S eeking Truth Exploring Mental Health in Information S ecurity - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

S eeking Truth Exploring Mental Health in Information S ecurity Philippe Dorman @ philippedorman

Obj ectives Define S ubj ect  Environment Information S ecurity The Individual Existing Resources 

Who am I? ~10 years experience programming/ web dev/ sysadmin  S ociology, because it was a way for me to combine what I loved  Encryption, it affects everyone  But so does mental health  These are my experiences 

What is Mental Health? Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It  affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood. ht t ps:/ / www.ment alhealt h.gov/ basics/ what -is-ment al-healt h/  Practically?  Emot ional Pain can be worse t han physical pain  Public Perception of Mental Health has been changing  Everyone is affected, directly or indirectly 

S ociology & Mental Health  Émile Durkheim, “ Le S uicide”  Wanted to understand why suicide rates were going up as capitalism was taking root  S tructural functionalism  Believes society is a complex system whose parts which work together to promote solidarity and stability.  https:/ / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ S tructural_functionalism  S olidarity  Regulation  Integration

Durkheim - S olidarity Image Author : ht t ps:/ / www.yout ube.com/ user/ JaiWbio Video Source: https :/ / www.yout ube.com/ wat ch? v=XGargZd9KkQ

Durkheim – S ocial Facts S ocial Facts Norms    "consist of manners of acting, Values  thinking and feeling external to Morality  the individual, which are invested with a coercive power by virtue of Beliefs  which they exercise control over him". Culture  Exist as a result of social  Laws  interaction Population Distribution  Cannot be reduced to the  Political Institutions  Individual Psychology can’ t study “ Law” , it  does not exist in the individual

Durkheim – S uicide “ Man cannot become attached to higher aims and submit to a rule if he sees nothing above him to which he belongs. To free him from all social pressure is to abandon him to himself and demoralize him.” Émile Durkheim, On S uicide: A S t udy in S ociology

What use is a S tructuralist Approach to Mental Health? If one day you wake up and you’ re depressed, things aren’ t going well  Take account of your life   45 years old  Divorced  It’s easier to understand your problem, to break it apart and analyze it effectively  Realize that these are shared problems  It’ ll be easier to detach your problems from your worth as an individual, it’ ll be less personal “ this happens to everyone” , less isolating  It’ ll be easier to understand what you can do about them  Being able to break apart a complex situation into coherent parts makes it easier to apply tools

Infosec S ociological & Psychological Factors Dealing with difficult situations, situations that “ never end”  Push yourself more and more, work harder and harder to make sure you don’ t  screw up Y ou can’ t “ win” at infosec, and that’s draining  Futility  “ The aim of any process is not the perpetuation of that process, but the  completion thereof. . . . The process should work to a completion, not to some horror of intensification and extremity wherein the soul and body ultimately perish.”  Anti-Edipus, CAPITALIS M AND S CHIZOPHRENIA, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari

Infosec S ociological & Psychological Factors Trauma creates numbing  Isolation  Work issues are cause of the problem but discussing them might be a problem  Have a hard time talking to professionals   Family  Friends

The Infosec Process & Mental Health When something goes wrong If you break one link in the chain it undermines everything else.  If I’ m not good at my j ob, what else am I not good at?   Am I a good colleague, parent, friend?  Y ou can fall for a very long time before you find something to grab onto, a truth you can cling to Failing at this throws absolutely everything into question  And into chaos  Hard to find truth at this point 

The Infosec Process & Mental Health Tools Medication  Cognitive Behavioral Therapy   Expose yourself to difficult situations  Avoiding them only makes it harder in the long run Meditation, Religion, Groups, Activities  Routine  Exercise  Healthy Diet  Hobbies 

Artwork: Ed S pence (http:/ / edspence.tumblr.com/ )

"Look, I've never had a dream in my life Because a dream is what you wanna do, but still haven't pursued I knew what I wanted and did it till it was done So I've been the dream that I wanted to be since day one!" -No Regrets, Aesop Rock https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sClhmDN5Fcs Artwork: Ed S pence (http:/ / edspence.tumblr.com/ )

Truth Ment al illnesses can be t reat ed effect ively.  Like I ment ioned earlier, people in severe depression might not be t hinking logically  Track what you do, I used fit bit t o hold me account able, depression will t wist your t hought s,  it will lie t o you Diversit y  Abilit y t o Overcome Challenges  Failure is part of living  Everytime you lose yourself, you also find yourself – Joseph Goldstein  It can always get worse  I want t o go furt her t han j ust giving you a t alk about how difficult ment al healt h is and how  t o deal wit h it Truth: People with Mental health issues are valuable 

Infosec & Mental Health Talks Richard Thieme (@ neuralcowboy) Def Con 24 - August 6, 2016  Playing Through t he Pain: The Impact of S ecret s and Dark Knowledge on S ecurit y and Int elligence Professionals -  ht t ps:/ / www.youtube.com/ wat ch? v=IowHTVxHpAs Amber Baldet (@ AmberBaldet) DEF CON 21  S uicide Risk Assessment and Int ervention Tact ics - ht t ps:/ / www.yout ube.com/ wat ch? v=bfYJE-qCVaM  Amanda Berlin (@ Infosytir) BS ides Nashville 2017 Keynote  Ment al Healt h in Infosec: Hackers, Hugs, & Drugs ht t ps:/ / www.slideshare.net / amandasullivanberlin/ ment al-  healt h-in-infosec-hackers-hugs-drugs Amanda Folson (@ AmbassadorAwsum)  On-Calliday: Un-S ucking Y our On-Call Experience - ht t ps:/ / www.yout ube.com/ wat ch? v=gcfnG5DkwWs 

Open S ource Mental Illness OS Mental Illness (@ OS MIhelp)   https:/ / osmihelp.org/ Open Sourcing Mental Illness (OS MI) is a non-profit founded in 2013  dedicated to raising awareness, educating, and providing resources to support mental wellness in the tech and open source communities. OS MI began in 2013 as a speaking campaign by Ed Finkler. Ed started speaking  at tech conferences about his personal experiences as a web developer and open source advocate with a mental health disorder.

Infosec & Mental Health – Rally S ecurity rallysecurity.com (@ rallysecurity)   Y outube: https:/ / www.youtube.com/ channel/ UClLADKBRgj kwe3JXxvAchiQ  Twitch TV: https:/ / www.twitch.tv/ rallysecurity Epsiode #27   https:/ / rallysecurity.com/ podcast/ rallysec_episode27- j ack_daniels_talks_stress_exhaustion_fatigue-burnout/  Jack Daniel – Guest (@ j ack_daniel)  Tony Robinson (@ DA_667 )  Ben Heise (@ benheise )  Danny Akacki (@ DAkacki - infosanity.org)

Infosec & Mental Health People https:/ / twitter.com/ tottenkoph  https:/ / twitter.com/ BreneBrown  https:/ / twitter.com/ Proj S emicolon  https:/ / twitter.com/ TheS uggmeister  https:/ / twitter.com/ BlueHackersOrg  https:/ / twitter.com/ ThePaintedBrain 

Infosec & Mental Health Communities http:/ / hackingtogether.org/  Rob Fuller (@ mubix)  ht t ps:/ / www.youtube.com/ wat ch? v=Wggu_qaYJaQ  There are many ways t o help us t hat need it and are afraid t o ask for help because one of t he biggest biases we  st ill have in our communit y is showing weakness. But you can let t hose around you know t hat you care, t hat you are t here for t hem, and t hat your door is open t o t alk anyt ime, but one of t he best ways is j ust t o be around each ot her, hang out , go t o a movie, t alk about your day. To be a t rue friend, not j ust anot her face in t he lobby of a conference. http:/ / ir0nin.com/ (@ iR0nin)  Welcome t o t he resource for hackers & ot hers who want t o be bet t er equipped t o educat e and help make  posit ive change For t hose who want t o be involved in t he communit y and reach t hose out side of it . Then please use t he t ools here t o become t hat change! http:/ / www.infosanity.org/  Resources + S lack 

Questions? Comments? @ philippedorman  phil@ animasec.com 