You are either technical, or you are not.

What does it mean?

Many tried to answer that borderline philosophical question, but as far as I know no one is really able to pin it down to specifics. This is because it’s one of these things where ‘you know it when you see it’. The depth of our knowledge about different subjects varies and there is absolutely not a single list, or ultimate criteria that can be applied to tag someone as ‘technical’ or ‘non-technical’.

Where does it leave us?

You are either technical, or you are not.

What does it mean?

For every aspect of infosec there exist a practitioner layer, often manifesting itself by an individual’s capability to deliver. You can master this level and still not be ‘technical’. Because being ‘technical’ means being fluent on this practitioner layer, plus more. For example:

• Can use existing tools to deliver, but can also validate the tools’ output, or even write better tools
• Sees gaps in existing tools and either improves the tools, or changes methodology
• Sees events on multiple levels of abstractions (f.ex. thanks to knowing protocols, knowing how org works, how malware works, how advanced authentication protocols work, etc. aka knows what happens ‘under the hood’)
• Sees connections where others don’t
• Actually reads the fucking manuals and RFCs
• Experiments and ‘has itchy fingers’

You are either technical, or you are not.

What does it mean?

You are technical when you are one upping yourself against the average of your peers…

It’s not about knowing to program, reverse engineering code, analyzing packets, or discovering vulnerabilities. It’s about optimization, pioneering solutions, knowing the tools best for both their best and their worst, being inquisitive, finding out, then leading and sharing knowledge. It’s about not being an arsehole, but the waterhole. It’s about being the inspiration as much as being easy to be inspired. It’s not about being ‘technical’ at all. It’s about spotting ‘more technical than you’ and… following, raising the bar, challenging the status quo.

A ‘technical’ person is always a disruptor and a game changer.