JeffBolden.net

What a summer! Time is flying by, and I just noticed it’s been almost 2 months since I posted. Nothing like starting a blog just to ignore it. It seems like the past few months have been a flurry of work, kid’s summer activities and stress over career. I guess the old adage is true, the older you get the faster time seems to slip by. =)

On the job front, I have some changes to announce. After a lot of contemplation I decided it was time to move on from my Security Architect role at US Bank, I role I’ve been at for the past 15 months. I met a lot of great people, learned a few things about myself, but in the end decided the position was just not a good fit for me. I’m grateful I had a chance to meet some truly talented security people while I was there and made some great friends. It was a tough decision, but I’m excited about the change.

I’ve accepted a new position at a great financial software/solution company in downtown Portland that I’m extremely excited about, and will be starting Monday. It’s a role I’ve been resisting for over three years but circumstances seem to keep pushing me in that direction, so after a lot of thought and discussions with my new employer I’ve decided to accept the inevitable and become an Information Security Auditor.

So for those of you that know me, yes i’ve moved to the dark side. I can hear you chuckling from here. =)

The summer is flying by so fast I had almost forgot about my CISA test and that I was still waiting for results. It had been weeks since I last thought about it, so I was pleasantly surprised to get an email from ISACA on Thursday with the results. Long story short, I passed with flying colors! I’m glad, as I did not relish the thought of having to study and retake the test in December during the holiday season.

All in all, this was one of the more interesting (read stressful) certification tests I’ve taken. Now that I can look back at it knowing I passed, it was a test that I probably worried more than I needed to, but one I had to prepare for the most due to it covering areas that I did not have as much experience in as I’ve had with other certification subjects in the past.

Now comes the fun part, filling out the application and documenting my past security experience so I can claim a new set of letters to add behind my name. All of which really means nothing in the grand scheme of things… =)