SANS Exchange security webcast presented by Linux admins

I’m not making this up. From this morning’s email, an announcement from SANS of an upcoming Exchange security webcast. Here’s an excerpt from the announcement:

A Microsoft Exchange Server is often found as one of the most important collaborative assets to current organizations of all sizes. With so much dependency on a reliable e-mail and collaboration
system, many organizations are faced with the problem of how to secure those communications. This webcast will introduce listeners to Exchange messaging protocols and discuss strategies to secure those communications. This webcast will focus on Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. Miles Stevenson has spent the last five years working as a Linux network administrator. He worked in both commercial and
government sectors specializing in low-cost Linux solutions. He currently works as a full time network administrator for the SANS Institute and directs the SANS Assessment program.

Now, I don’t mean any personal disrespect to Mr. Stevenson. However, I don’t understand what in his background as a Linux admin qualifies him to talk about securing Exchange. Securing any enterprise messaging system requires a fair bit of specialized knowledge, including a good understanding of the underlying OS. I wouldn’t expect an Exchange administrator to be able to talk knowledgeably about Linux security, for example. I’m curious about what exactly will be covered in the webcast, but I’ll be on a flight when it’s being presented– if you monitor it, leave a comment here and let me know what you thought about it.

4 Comments

Filed under General Stuff, Musings

4 responses to “SANS Exchange security webcast presented by Linux admins

  1. itbean's avatar itbean

    Perhaps SANS accidentally cut & pasted the wrong person and/or description into the announcement?

  2. Unknown's avatar Anonymous

    The SANS discussions are archived and are made available for download several days after the event so you will be able to listen to it yourself.

  3. Brad's avatar Brad

    Got the same email in my inbox the other day. I’m hoping it’s a typo. The same thing went through my mind too, maybe he could lecture us on SharePoint security shortly after? Or perhaps hurricanes?