A Short Rant about the Information Security Industry

-->

My employer hosted a public lecture on the relative insecurity of the voting process in the US last night. I’ll post a link to the recording once it’s live. During the lecture though, I got excited and started texting commentary to a non-IT coworker who was also present. This morning she asked me if I was so passionate about the subject why I wasn’t working on it. My off the cuff answer is no one will pay for it. And while in this particular instance it’s true, there’s more to it than that.

I think if I’m honest, that I don’t want to work in the industry. I don’t like the way it feels. I go to professional conferences and hear people talk at one another about the problems, and it’s a lot of “they” don’t understand what we do, and we need to convince the C-suite to give us money. After that a vendor stands up to pitch their latest firewall with a nifty new dashboard. Sometimes they even have the guts to try to disguise it as an academic or scientific talk about new threats, but it’s the same crap in a different wrapper, and they’re not fooling anyone. I earn 8 credits toward renewing my CISSP for enduring this.

 On the flip side, the hacker conferences are at least fun. Everyone gets drunk and shows off their coolest science projects and bitches about The Man and then signs up to interview for a job with an NSA contractor.  

The employment opportunities themselves feel parasitic, feeding off peoples’ fear of technology they don’t understand, or at least fear of getting sued. I read postings on LinkedIn, and they want someone to check boxes to make sure they’re in compliance in case their practices come under government scrutiny or they want someone to configure ACLs and build concentric walls and moats because that’s the analogy that’s been fed to them. For the people already in these positions it’s a cushy gig. They don’t have to actually DO very much, but they can still scream for more resources and cry that no one understands how important they are. I close my browser and walk away without sending my resume.

I want to help solve problems. I want minimize fear and mitigate unnecessary risk. I want to help make our society a safe place without sacrificing freedom. Admittedly, I also want a steady paycheck. If something like that opens up, give me call. Until then I’ll continue to watch from the sidelines.

By the Way, I Got a New Car

It’s been a while since I wrote anything about the car search. To be honest, it came to an abrupt end. I didn’t drive everything I wanted to, but in the end, a dealer made an offer I couldn’t refuse. I went with the Hyundai Genesis. I really liked the car the first time I drove it. By the time the dealing was done and factoring in insurance, the cost was less than the Optima I had. I’ve actually been driving it now for a couple months. It’s taken me a bit to get to the point where I felt like sitting down to write. I figure that’s ok anyway, because it gave me a chance to really get to know the car before I wrote about it.

So let’s start by going through my list of requirements and see how the Genesis matches up. 

NEW – yep. It’s a 2016. It had less than 50 miles on the clock.

AFFORDABLE – I got a great deal on this car. My Optima was close to base, no options. This is a car that Hyundai is trying to position against BMW and Mercedes, and I’m paying less than I did for the Kia.

AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION – yep. 8 speed with paddle shifters. It gets really touchy about letting you hold the gears too long in manual mode though.

AWD/4WD – It’s rear-biased AWD. It has a “snow” mode. The one brief opportunity I had to use it, it was pretty good.

SEATS 4+ - It seats 4 no problem. Five looks doable but it might not be comfortable for the person in the middle.

WIFE’S APPROVAL – This actually was a hard one. It was dusk when we pulled in to the dealer, and the lights on the lot at that time of day made the car look like an odd shade of brown (it’s red). It’s also big. She was won over by the features and the comfort.

The car checked all the boxes for the needs. What about the wants?

SEATS 4 COMFORTABLY –There’s plenty of leg room, and the seats are comfortable enough. With two in back there’s still plenty of room. There have been complaints about the seatbelt being hard to reach, and my mom had a hard time not accidentally hitting the seat warmer button. I’ll go with mostly there in this area.  

25 MPG COMBINED – We fall a little short here. The Genesis has a 3.8 liter, naturally aspirated direct injected engine. It pushes out 311 horsepower. In a world of turbocharging and supercharging and twin-charging and hybridizing It feels a little old fashioned. That 311 HP is pushing a little over 2 tons of car via AWD. It’s not the most efficient thing in the world. On the other hand, I’ve been getting around 23 MPG on average for my daily commute, so it could be worse.

HEATED/COOLED SEATS – I got the heated part, and the rear seats are heated too. There is an option for cooled seats, but I would have had to get a bunch of other things I didn’t want along with them. It wasn’t worth the price.

HEATED STEERING WHEEL – YES! My wife made fun of me for this one until we had a cool day and she used it. I don’t think I’ll ever go back.

REMOTE START – sort of. This is one of the few issues I have with this car. The only way to get remote start from Hyundai for this car is through their app. Which is an extra charge. Which I will pay, because I can preheat my car in the winter and precool it in the summer. I will still grumble about it. My understanding is this will be complimentary in future versions of the car, when it becomes the Genesis G80.

USABLE CARGO SPACE – The trunk is pretty big. I managed to get two six foot (portable) folding tables and three camping chairs in it with no fussing. You could probably fit several pieces of luggage in there, or maybe two or three bodies. I probably wouldn’t use it for hauling bodies though, or yard and garden stuff. It’s too nice to dirty it up.

FUN TO DRIVE – The Genesis is not a sports car by any stretch of the imagination. That said, it’s by no means slow. The 311 HP I mentioned above moves the car easily. If you step down on the pedal at 65 the power rolls on pretty much instantly.  The car lets you know it’s go plenty more to give and it’s happy to do so. It makes a happy grunting sound when you step on the gas that may be at least partially simulated and pumped through the speakers, I can’t tell. But it’s a fun sound, like it wants to be driven hard. The car feels planted in corners for a big sedan and doesn’t waddle all over the place like say an old Crown Vic or a new Impala would. At the same time the suspension is soft enough that you don’t rattle your teeth out on Rhode Island’s fantastically cratered roadways. It smooths out the road without disconnecting you from it. Steering is right in the middle, not overly sensitive, but not sloppy. There’s a sport mode. I’m not entirely sure what it actually does. It appears to change the gear mapping and tighten the steering. That could all be psychological. It does appear to make a noticeable difference at least in fuel economy.

That’s all well and good. But I spend a lot of time commuting in heavy traffic and crawling along at 25 miles an hour. Speed and handling don’t do me much good there. What the Genesis does offer in this situation is a very comfortable seat. It’s possibly second only to a Volvo S60 in this area. The sound system is good and the radio controls are fairly intuitive, with a voice command system that actually works pretty well. Apple CarPlay is available, but I haven’t installed it at this point. So while commuting isn’t really ever fun, at least it’s relatively pleasant.

It will be interesting to see what happens as the Hyundai stands up Genesis as a separate brand. This car, renamed the G 80 for the 2017 model year is the pivot point, along with an Equus replacement. I think it has the quality and enough of an upscale feel to hang with the Lexus and Mercedes crowd without all the badge snobbery. Hyundai is also promising white glove top notch service from the Genesis dealerships. This will be a necessary component, especially given that there will be no standalone Genesis dealers to start. I’m a little skeptical of the plan. Hyundai dealerships have never impressed me as being detail oriented or refined. The one I got my car from is crowded, dark, and didn’t strike me as being terribly clean. They are building a new building, so that may change. At this time however, they are not on the list to get the full Genesis line. That may be inconvenient when it comes time for another round of car shopping.

Car Shopping Round 1

After repeated calls from the Kia dealer, I decided to start looking at cars yesterday afternoon. I started at the Toyota dealer, first because they really only had one car I was interested in, and second because it’s at the extreme end of the highway that most of the dealers closest to my house occupy. I think with a couple exceptions every brand available in RI has a presence along Route 2. So in spite of the kid I talked to trying to sell me anything else but a 4Runner, I drove one. It’s not as big as I thought but still plenty roomy. It’s an honest truck based SUV, and the one I tested didn’t have many frills or unnecessary extras. It would be great for camping trips or hauling things, and I have no doubt that it’s plenty capable in any situation I’d be likely to throw at it, and then some. The problem is I’ll be using this car primarily for commuting in often heavy traffic. The truck based MPG and truck based ride kind of don’t make sense there. Even though the thing has some torquey grunt, it’s a big heavy truck so it doesn’t get off the line quickly. What I’m getting at is I think the 4Runner is great, but not the right tool for the job. I’ll probably look at it again when we decide to replace the Jeep.

The next stop was a Ford dealer. I didn’t actually drive anything here. I sat in an Explorer and a Flex. Both were very nice, but HUGE. Way too big to serve primarily as a daily commuter. I also took another look at a Taurus, just to be sure. I quickly confirmed that they are oddly small inside, like a reverse Tardis. The kid also showed me a Fusion even though I explained my issue with them. I get the impression that maybe he got some extra incentive if he sold one. Unsurprisingly, the center console remained unchanged, so I had no interest. I will say that all the Fords I looked at were nicely appointed. With the exception of the Flex what I looked at were midlevel trim models (The Flex was the only one on the lot and had all the options save a couple minor cosmetic things). Ford has really stepped up their game in this regard. I was impressed, but the individual pieces didn’t come together in a way that worked for me.

I drove down the road to the Hyundai dealer. I really only wanted to see a Genesis. After a brief glance at a Santa Fe and Tucson to ensure that they really are nondescript egg-like CUVs, I spoke to a sales person and drove a Genesis. There’s a reason Hyundai is using this car as the breaking off point into a luxury brand. This thing is NICE. It’s slightly bigger than the Optima, and the base model has more bells and whistles than I really want or need but it was comfortable. It’s also laid out intuitively, which is something car makers seem to struggle with as they cram more gizmos into products. I wouldn’t call it fast, but it hit highway speed with no effort, and it wasn’t afraid to pass. For a bigger car it corners well. There’s apparently also a sport mode that the salesman didn’t show me until after the test drive. I’m not sure it would make a huge difference, but I’d like to find out. I priced it out, and it’s easily in my range. This thing makes the short list.

At this point I was running into the time I had agreed to meet up with the Kia salesman, so I made my way down the road to the dealership. I was expecting it to be a quick trip, as I’d already decided the Sorrento is too big, and the only other option is the Sportage, which looks eggy. Or at least the 2016 model did. They’ve recently updated the looks and released the 2017 model (in March?). It’s slightly less hideous, and I’ve had good experiences with this salesman and this dealership, so I gave it the benefit of the doubt and drove one. If you’re in the market for a car and not sure what you want, dump any preconceived notions you may have and go look at a Kia. They’re putting together some decent cars for fairly reasonable prices. The Sportage I drove was an EX, their midlevel trim. But it had heated leather seats, dual climate control, a heated leather steering wheel, a huge fancy power sunroof I would probably never use, and all sorts of the warnings and nannies and things that people want now.

It drove fine. It wasn’t exciting. The ride was fairly smooth. The seats are comfortable. It was capable on the highway. It’s got space for people and stuff. It’s a good solid all –around car. I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it. If it was crazy cheap I would consider it. The problem was, it wasn’t crazy cheap. It’s not expensive either, no Kia is except maybe the K900, but I’ve never actually seen one in person. They may be a myth. These things are fresh off the truck and Kia is trying to flush out the 2016 models, so there’s no incentives on them. That combined with the fact that I need to dispose of the Optima put the price just a few dollars shy of the Genesis. I can’t think of a reason I would do that to myself.

It took me about four hours to run through this gauntlet. I think they were fairly productive. I eliminated Toyota and Ford, and unless something interesting happens, Kia. I didn’t expect the Genesis to make the cut, but it’s currently a top contender.  I’ve also come to the conclusion that most SUVs are probably a bad fit for my situation, even if I like them (Jeep). I’ve also got time. I don’t need to rush to find something, and I can make sure I’m getting a  good deal when I figure out what I want.

On a final note, I’d like to encourage you again to go look at a Kia if you’re in the market for a new car. My opinion is likely strongly colored by the good experience I had at the dealer (Bald Hill Kia) and with the salesman (Al Paulo). The thing is, Kia really is building good cars now, and for the price it’s hard to beat the options. If they made an all wheel drive Optima, I’d take one in a heartbeat. They don’t currently, and the AWD options they do have aren’t meeting up with my personal taste and use case. Maybe they’ll meet yours though.