VANISH MAGIC BACK ISSUES Vanishmagazine62 | Page 8

NEWS TIPS FROM A TOP MAGICIAN ROMANY SHARES SOME GREAT ADVICE In a recent article in a top UK paper, Metro, Romany had a great interview and publicity. Here are a few questions sh e was asked: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps? Money doesn’t magically appear. It took me years to earn a profit because you put all your money into cos- tumes and tricks. My career really took off after I went to Las Vegas in 2000 to study with master magicians. To be good at anything you need to find an expert who will look honestly at what you are doing and tell you whether what you’re doing is good or bad. I’ve always turned to mentors who have helped me but you also need to surround your- self with positive people and be determined not to give up. What was your lowest point? When my dad was dying I had a really big gig as an MC at the Womad Festival in Reading. I left my father as he was dying because I thought the show must go on at all costs. I told him I’d be straight back and I raced to Reading and went on stage. When I came off stage I had a message to say he was dead. Dad would have said, ‘Go and do your thing’ but if I had my time again I’d be by his side. I’d never say, ‘The show must go on.’ Mistakes, you’ve made a few? Many times but the worst moment came in Abu Dhabi, when I was hired to perform for the adult birthday party of a princess. The show was held at a palace but there were only 30 women in the audience and they were all 21-year-olds who were talking to each other and not in the least bit interested in me on stage. Because there were no men in the audience to tie my ropes I had to tie myself up but, because I was stressed, I did it wrong and I couldn’t free myself. So I was on stage, tied up, with nobody looking at me, trying furiously to break free. I told myself, ‘Just think of the cheque!’ Nobody looked in my direction and I eventually broke free but it felt like hours. My other mistake was dating a clown. He stood me up in a restaurant – and, trust me, it’s no laughing matter to be stood up by a clown who is in his mid-fifties. Top tip ‘Do more of what makes you happy because as you get hap- pier, the job gets easier — and so does life’ Romany’s book Spun Into Gold: The Secret Life Of A Female Magician by is out now WHAT MAGIC TRICKS CAN TEACH CISOS ABOUT MALWARE PREVENTION A very interesting article in securityintelligence.com about magic and malware prevention. The rabbit in the hat is one of magic’s most venerable tricks. Everyone knows the basics: The hat seems empty and then, suddenly, out of “nowhere,” a rabbit appears. Onlookers know that sleight of hand is the true magic here, but a great performer can make it appear as if they’ve actually managed to break the laws of nature. What does this mean for cybersecurity? Presentation counts, and onlookers shouldn’t see your magic at work. The best magicians have props that lend gravitas to their act — in cybersecurity, this means laying a solid IT foundation that convinces malicious actors that any attempted breaches would be a waste of time. In law enforcement parlance, it’s called target hardening — the practice of securing businesses and homes by installing window bars, motion-sensing lights and other obvious security clues. 8 VANISH Magazine www.VanishMagazine.com There’s a key difference between street-corner magicians and their corporate counterparts: knowledge. Unlike passersby who might get roped into an illusion or two, staff must feel like part of the act. According to a report from ISACA and the CMMI Institute, 95 per- cent of businesses point to a “gulf” between desired and current cybersecurity states, owing in large part to a lack of communal infosec culture. As Computer Weekly noted, this trend suggests a need for a new cybersecurity triad — culture, structure and strat- egy — where each aspect supports the other two. What does this look like in practice? Clear communication with staff about their role in preventing common attacks such as phish- ing, along with straightforward explanations about permissions, access and potential consequences. Put simply, employees must be informed assistants, not audience members. TO READ ENTIRE ARTICLE VISIT: https://securityintelligence.com/articles/disappearing-act-what- magic-tricks-can-teach-cisos-about-malware-prevention/