Reader Comment 08-13-09 No Weiss PhD

A reader from SCADASEC-L, an on-line SCADA Security discussion group, corrected my awarding of a Ph. D. to Joe Weiss in my blog posting yesterday. As the reader noted, I remembered him being called (or described as, I can’t remember for sure) Dr. Weiss at a Congressional Hearing, but that was not the sole reason that I used the title. I intended it to be a measure of the respect that I hold for Joe’s learned opinions on ICS security issues. Even so, I apologize for inappropriately using the honorific ‘Dr’ in attributing Joe’s comments. While I certainly appreciate the friendly, constructive tone that was used in this correction, I recognize that there are people in the world who get very upset about the misuse of such honorifics. I certainly don’t want to get Joe Weiss in trouble with such people. He already has his work cut out for him fighting the demons of inept security practices; he doesn’t need the added burdens of fighting the honorifics police (which certainly does not include the reader who made this comment). As always, I appreciate the constructive criticism and urge readers that note mistakes in my posting to let me know about them.