🧙♂️ The Fellowship Newsletter
Week 1 - Introduction and Bio of Stuart
Hello friend,
How are you? It’s been a while since I sent an email. I wanted to give you some updates on what I’m doing.
Newsletter
As the number of people on this mailing list is nearing 1000, I want to add more value to the people on it. I put up a poll on LinkedIn asking if people would like a Newsletter from me. The response was overwhelmingly positive, so I launched “The Fellowship” Newsletter. The first edition of it is below. I hope you will be happy to receive more regular emails from me. It will not be sales-focused but will share knowledge and stories of what I am doing. Stories about fighting the GRC Monsters. This first edition of the Newsletter details my story and why I work in Security.
The Fellowship Newsletter
What is a Fellowship?
Fellowship
fĕl′ō-shĭp″
Noun
👉 The companionship of individuals in a congenial atmosphere and on equal terms.
👉 Friendship; comradeship.
👉 A close association of friends or equals sharing similar interests.
(Wordnik)
I have called the newsletter “The Fellowship”. Yes, it shows a little love for the Lord of the Rings, but more than that, it gives this Newsletter a purpose.
The Newsletter communicates knowledge, stories, and anecdotes with my friends, companions, and associates. Topics I will cover include (but are not limited to):
Current activities, Security Policy, Security Risk, GRC Skills, building a security consultancy, a training platform, an online course, Writing a book, My journey, Etc...
This email introduces who I am, what I do, and how you can work with me if you want to.
Who am I?
Stuart Wedge
What do I do?
Security Policy Writer
Security Risk Practitioner
What have I done?
Military Veteran
Animal Tracker
Bushcraft & Survival Instructor
Fire Performer
Why do I work in Information Security?
I was challenged on this recently. I said, “I joined the Army at 16 because I watched what was happening on the news in Bosnia, and I wanted to stand between the people doing harm and those being harmed.”The person said, “That’s a condition. It’s called a Hero Complex.”
I was fully aware of that. In the Army, we called it “Superman Syndrome”. It’s not that I wanted to be a hero. For me, it was that I detest violence, especially against those who cannot defend themselves. If I were able to help, I would do it.
After leaving the Army, I worked as a Satellite Dish Fitter. But when the digital switchover happened, my work stopped overnight. Most people have the means to watch Digital TV. I needed to find another source of income.
I fell into Physical Security. I got my Door Supervisor licence and found work as a bouncer in Edinburgh. I have many stories from that time of my life. A friend even turned a year of my Facebook posts into a book!
Jumping back to the reason I do what I do…
The person challenged me: “Do you really think, as a security function, we can keep people safe?”
My answer
“As a security function; I don’t think we can keep people safe. What we can do is to help them make better decisions.”
That is what I am doing in my work. I am helping to reduce the impact and frequency of accidental data loss caused by people not doing what they are meant to with data. Implementing policies that change how security controls are administered and managed. Improving the quality of the authority documents to enable people to understand what is meant to be done.
Here is the key message I use in everything I do:
✅ If we get the policies right, we get the message right.
✅ If we get the message right, we get engagement.
✅ If we get engagement, we get action.
✅ If we get action, we get progress.
It doesn’t matter if it’s your first month as a GRC Analyst or if you are fifteen years into your career and starting your first CISO position. Using Security Policies is how we implement our security controls, build our strong security posture, and put that new Security Strategy into effect.
If you’d like to work with me
👉 Book a Call
👉 Check out my courses
👉 Hire me to Consult for your business
Thank you for joining this Newsletter. I very much hope that you enjoy the content.
If you don’t, please unsubscribe. I know that I will not please everyone.
Privacy
Don’t worry; I will not send loads of spam, and your details are never sold to other companies. I’m a big fan of GDPR, and if you read the Privacy Notice, you’ll understand that a little bit more than you do now.
Stuart Wedge
PolicyWizard 🧙♂️