Pierre-Paul Ferland

Hi, I'm PP! I am a cybersecurity expert and content creator who helps you build healthy online habits. I am skilled at listening empathetically and explaining complex topics in a simple and accessible way. If you like my tweets, check out my newsletter ppfosec.com/tag/newsletter/

@shreyas Interesting I would have thought you’d need 1-2-3 for going Sr./Group not for Director.

“You are great at execution, the team loves you, but you need to be more strategic” Hearing this feedback from your direct manager or your skip manager can be very confusing. And for highly capable product people who consistently get things done, this theme of “you need to be more strategic” is extremely common. It is perhaps the most common feedback given to otherwise-competent PMs at some point in their career. -- It starts showing up after you’ve rapidly ascended your company’s career ladder up to Sr. PM or Group PM. And once it starts showing up, it just will not go away. That is, until you fix it. -- But here’s the trouble: it is incredibly confusing to know how to act on this feedback. As a further complication, while many managers / skip levels are happy to deliver this feedback, most of them either do not have the expertise or the time to create more clarity on how the employee should act on this feedback. -- So let’s solve that. First, if you receive the “you need to be more strategic” feedback, it doesn’t automatically mean that you should be looking to take a product strategy course or read a product strategy book. Product strategy and being strategic are not always the same thing. In practice, not all “you need to be more strategic” feedback is the same. -- There are 3 distinct categories of this feedback: 1) More Product Thinking: You need to do more Product Thinking and less Project Thinking (see the image below if you’re curious about the differences between Product Thinking and Project Thinking) 2) New Opportunity Creation: You need to spend more time on creating new opportunities and the next big new business for your org & company (instead of being mainly focused on executing on and optimizing the current cash cow) 3) Actual Product Strategy: You need to clarify the vision and product strategy for your product (and make sure that the right people at the right levels in the right functions understand this vision & strategy, and are aligned to execute on it across the company) -- #1 is usually the case for Sr. PMs / GPMs when they want to get to Director level. #2 is usually the case for Director level folks who need to demonstrate impact above and beyond what would organically happen anyway. #3 is usually the case for GPM / Director / VP level folks who are very good Operators, but haven’t yet found the time or built the skills to clarify a real product vision and strategy and get the broader org aligned towards it. -- So if in the next perf review season you get the “you need to be more strategic” feedback, I suggest you use this framework to get more clarity from your manager on what you actually need to do to respond to their feedback.

This is a webinar from a security company I highly respect. By all means, they also have a good product. But look at this fear-based marketing...

Tip of the day: don’t purchase a Wireshark course marketed as a core cybersecurity skill. Promiscuous mode doesn’t exist in the cloud.

@mattjay Shaming people is not an ethical way to have them change their behaviours.

I heard about a company that is making a "Wall of SHAME" - On it? Team members who fail 3 times in phishing simulations. Let me hear your thoughts on this one.

@bettersafetynet We’ve had surprisingly good feedback with our internal phishing campaigns. When discussing with people we’ve learnt some things about how we communicate internally that could be improved, for example.

I'm OKish with phishing assessments. I'm very OK with targeted and short non-retaliatory training for folks who click the phish. I am no longer OK with reporting phishing click rates the board. Thank you for attending this TED talk.

@SeanWrightSec Thanks for posting. I feel the same. I’m in GRC and the problem is that CISSP doesn’t prepare all that well for native cloud deployments doing 10,000+ deployments a year…

“There isn’t a skills gap in cybersecurity”, is a blinkered view. It’s a blanket statement that doesn’t help since some areas certainly have a definite skills gap. I know this for a fact since I’m currently trying to fill a role (and have in the past), and it’s taken a while to do so. And before some say “why don’t you just train someone”, that’s again another naive view. Many security teams are overwhelmed, attempting to spend time on skilling them up is just not going to happen (I know many would love to though). We need to stop treating things as a bubble or blanket statement. Your situation, role, section of the industry could be completely different from someone else’s. And these types of statements don’t help those really struggling.

Mental health in cybersecurity : an insider perspective #infosec #cybersecurity #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth

@martinbouch @HPE This is huge! I wish you get some mainstream coverage in Quebec media out of this, it’s a great success.

I am thrilled to share some major and exciting news from the heart of ISC23 in Hamburg, Germany. It is with immense pride that I announce QScale's successful securing of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (@HPE) as the first anchor tenant at our Q01 Campus, highlighting our shared commitment to sustainability and clean energy. For those unaware, HPE, the world's top supercomputer manufacturer, has made significant strides in technology by developing Frontier, the fastest supercomputer in the world, breaking the exascale barrier with an astonishing 1 quintillion operations per second. HPE's decision to collaborate with QScale is not only a testament to the capabilities of our team but also a recognition of our commitment to developing and operating advanced, large-scale hosting facilities that emphasize clean energy and efficient liquid cooling technologies. We're excited about the journey ahead and the innovative work we will achieve together. #Supercomputing #Sustainability #CleanEnergy #LiquidCooling #ISC23

@martinbouch Talk about an amazing timing for QScale. I’m really excited to see your company grow over the next decade.

🔬🌐 We're living in a fascinating era where the potential for AI is becoming more apparent every day. With the advent of Large Language Models (LLMs) for Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), the capabilities of AI are expanding at a rapid pace. These models can engage in conversation, pass tests, develop research papers, write software code, and so much more. However, these capabilities come at a high cost. As Forbes recently highlighted, the infrastructure and operating costs for generative AI data centers could exceed $76 billion by 2028, a cost that is more than double the annual operating cost of Amazon’s cloud service AWS. This is due to a projected 50X increase in processing workloads, even with a 4X improvement in hardware compute performan​c​e. The demand for GenAI is burgeoning, with OpenAI’s ChatGPT approaching 2 billion monthly visitors, and popular GenAI art community, Midjourney, boasting over 15 million users. Applications are expanding beyond text and image generation to include video and sound, and 3D animation. Future capabilities may even include generating video entertainment, creating metaverses, teaching, and devising processes for urban, industrial, and business application. At @QScale_ca, we are deeply committed to addressing these challenges head-on. As a leading computing center for AI, we understand the magnitude of the task at hand. We're investing heavily in the development of massive, clean, and green infrastructure to support the increasing demands of GenAI. Our goal is not just to keep pace with this extraordinary growth, but to do so in a way that is sustainable and environmentally conscious. By prioritizing energy efficiency and embracing renewable energy sources, we are setting a new standard for the AI computing industry. Read the full Forbes article here: forbes.com/sites/tiriasre… #AI #DataCenter #GenAI #Innovation #Sustainability #Technology

Cookies explained like you’re five. The technology behind the obnoxious banners you see everywhere. Read the full article on my blog: ppfosec.com/what-is-a-cook… #cookie #Compliance #privacy #GDPR

DKIM - Disturbed Kingdom Inhabits Mordor (I may have been inspired by the #LordOfTheRings trailer) #infosec #dadjokes

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Browsers have become proficient in blocking HTTP sites, so HTTPS Everywhere is less relevant than 5-6 years ago. Still, a simple extension to enforce https is also convenient! chrome.google.com/webstore/detai…

Recommended privacy Chrome extensions to help you browse as you choose! 🔏