During this time of year, when everyone is looking forward to celebrating Christmas and the holidays with family and friends, talking about security is as important as ever. We who work with security know that the adversaries are not sleeping, they are not taking time off, this is their prime time. When everyone else is taking time off the hackers will try to get in inside any given corporation or online identity.
Which, makes me think about the Swedish Christmas Goat – the Yule Goat (Julbock in Swedish). Every year, since 1966, the city of Gävle creates a giant straw goat. This is a tradition with roots in pagan traditions.
Another tradition is that this goat has almost every year been set on fire. During its history, the goat has only survived around roughly twenty times. It has been set on fire, cars have been driven into the goat, it has had its legs torn apart and in some cases it has even been destroyed before it was fully constructed.
Have a look at the current status of the Christmas Goat: Gävlebocken
Securing a Christmas Goat is, even though it doesn’t seem like it, quite a challenging task. It is placed in the open and for those defending the goat they have to monitor it 24/7, from all angles. For someone wanting to set the goat on fire, they only have to find one way in – and in some cases they don’t care about getting caught. Instead they seek fame and recognition.
Some may argue that it is good advertising for the city, and that is probably true. However, a burning goat is a danger to everyone, and destroying something that costs a lot of money to construct is … well, to burn money.
The goat itself is about 13 meters high (about 42 feet). That is one massive goat. Sort of a crown jewel for those constructing it. And it is not supposed to be set on fire of course, which brings me to my final remark about the importance of protecting a Christmas Goat.
The difficulties in protecting this giant goat shows us a lot about how difficult security can be. Protecting it despite the difficulties is what defines security. Security doesn’t give up because something is difficult. Sometimes we fail, most of the times we don’t. And the effort is tireless, continuing until the very end.
With that said, Merry Christmas and have a secure holiday!
Magnus Carling
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