By Jim Reavis

How do we know the toothbrush was invented in Alabama?  The answer to that and other of life’s important questions are contained within.

Today’s information security headlines brought the news that HP has signed a definitive letter to acquire SPI Dynamics, a web application security company based in Atlanta.  I have to admit that it wasn’t shocking news, as I have been an advisor to SPI since 2003, or about a generation ago in infosec time.  The news is somewhat bittersweet, my daughter graduated from high school last week and now SPI has graduated from the security venture community to become a part of the Fortune 500.  But graduations are mostly happy times, the part of you that doesn’t want to let go of the past is outweighed by the excitement at seeing what the future will bring.  The excitement I hold here is to think about how much better off we will all be in surfing an Internet in which SPI has a greater influence.  As successful as SPI has been as an independent company, its solutions have truthfully only been used to secure a small amount of the web applications that are out there, and I expect that HP’s market leading position with its Quality Center software will change that equation dramatically.  But I want to reminisce just a bit, I think SPI’s story has some good lessons, whether you want to be an entrepreneur, or if you are a security architect developing a strategy.
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