// CURIOUS OPERATOR — SECURITY · SYSTEMS · SIDE-QUESTS
Security. Systems.
Side-quests.
I'm Ashley — a security practitioner and founder who writes about what he's actually doing. No hype. Working shown.
You Don't Need a GRC Platform to Get ISO 27001 Certified
Every man and his dog has a GRC tool these days. But the platform won't do ISO 27001 for you — and if you already live in Atlassian, Jira and Confluence done well will get you further than a shiny box you'll abandon by month nine.
Security, ISO 27001 & vCISO
The advisory core — ISMS, audits, risk, governance.
Founder & Business
The journey — MSP growth, entrepreneurship, building.
Systems Engineering & Administration
20 years of infrastructure, how I run things.
AI & Automation
The cyber guy automates X — AI, scripting, IaC, APIs.
Money & Side Hustles
Crypto, products, property, the trading bot.
Motorsport & Sim Racing
F1, iRacing, GT3 — the rigs and the cars.
Career
Breaking in, certs, growth — the craft.
Curiosities
The off-beat — Cold War, cooking, travel, homebrew.
You Don’t Need a GRC Platform to Get ISO 27001 Certified
Every man and his dog has a GRC tool these days. But the platform won’t do ISO 27001 for you — and if you already live in Atlassian, Jira and Confluence done well will get you further than a shiny box you’ll abandon by month nine.
The Essential 8 isn’t 8 controls. And it isn’t really a framework. Here’s what it actually is.
The Australian Signals Directorate’s Essential 8 is one of the most widely-referenced cyber security frameworks in the country.
The prompt is not the problem
We are in danger of building a society full of architects with nobody left to pour the concrete.
The Honest Guide to ISO 27001
The certification book I wish I'd had — written by the guy who was being audited, not selling you a platform. Plain-English, no FUD, no vendor pitch. Just what actually works.
- The Honest Guide to Your First Audit
- The Honest Guide to Where Your ISMS Lives
- The Honest Guide to Internal Audit
- The Honest Guide to Risk Assessment
- The Honest Guide to ISO 27001
- Worked Statement of Applicability — free bonus
SERIES
A curious operator
Founder of Securitribe, ISO 27001 practitioner (the one being audited, not just advising), AICD-trained on governance and risk, twenty years deep in infrastructure — and someone who genuinely enjoys digging drainage and tuning a sim rig on the weekend.
No hype. Just the working.
Occasional notes from across the lanes — security, systems, side-quests. No spam, unsubscribe any time.