1

Welcome to another SpiceQuest!

In this series, we call out current holidays and give you the chance to earn the monthly SpiceQuest badge!

(Each task can be done at any time. They don’t have to be completed on a certain holiday.)

This month we are celebrating the following holidays:

1. Cybersecurity Awareness Month

This one isn’t on a particular day, but an important one in the IT world nevertheless. A good time to remind your users about important things, like not clicking on questionable links and not handing out their online information to everyone. :slight_smile:

Related Task: tell us if you have anything going on for Cybersecurity month… are you going to instruct or test your users? Make some security changes?

Alternatively, if you don’t have any plans, tell us what you would like to do if you had more money/resources/time to invest in cybersecurity.

2. Taco Day

October 4th is Taco Day, which is a day to celebrate tacos. The definition of taco is pretty fluid though, so I feel like there is room for everyone here.

Related Task: tell us what kind of tacos you like… meat? fish? ice cream? What ingredients do you like and what do you wrap them in? Is a burger served on lettuce with no bun actually a taco?

Alternatively, if you aren’t into tacos, it is also “Fruit at Work” day. Tell us what kind of fruit you like to eat… at work or at home, and whether you choose differently at different places (perhaps because of potential mess around work equipment?)

3. Boss’ Day

October 16th is Boss’ Day, a day to celebrate good supervisors and bosses. None of them are perfect, but they are often what make or break a job.

Related Task: tell us something that makes your boss a good boss.

Alternatively, tell us about a past boss that was exceptional in some way, or tell us something you do, or would like to do as a supervisor or boss yourself.

4. Make a Difference Day

October 23rd is Make a Difference Day, which is a good day to think about making a difference in the world. Often it is hard to see how we can actually impact the world, but small efforts over time, and a lot of people joining together can make big differences.

Related Task: tell us how you are making a difference, or how you would like to make a difference for good in the world.

Alternatively, a week-long holiday about information literacy is also celebrated this week. What do you think more people should know about that might impact their lives in a positive way?

5. Halloween

Halloween is celebrated annually on October 31, which is also a day celebrated as part of the “Day of the Dead” celebration in some areas. Halloween is a day where a lot of people dress up in costumes, especially children who in the US often go house to house collecting candy. It’s also a day that a lot of people prepare for further by decorating their yards or workplaces. Also, check out our poll below about favorite haunted house themes.

Related Task: if you are dressing up for Halloween this year, what will your costume be?

Alternatively, if you aren’t dressing up, tell us an ideal costume or outfit you would love to have (related to the holiday or not).

Remember to post proof of your completion of each of the quest challenges in the comments below, so that we can grant you a SpiceQuest badge when the SpiceQuest is over. All entries must be posted by October 31, 2023.

Note: As always, all entries are expected to be safe for work.

Feeling nostalgic? Look back on old SpiceQuests HERE .

What are your favorite haunted house themes?
  • Abandoned Asylum
  • Alien Invasion / Sci-Fi Lab
  • Graveyard
  • Haunted Mansion with Ghosts
  • Lost Labyrinth
  • Mad Scientist Lab
  • Monsters / Creatures
  • Witch’s Domicile
  • Zombie Apocalypse
  • Other, tell us below
0 voters
42 Spice ups
2

tell us if you have anything going on for Cybersecurity month… are you going to instruct or test your users? Make some security changes?

Probably just make sure people aren’t saving stuff in shares again, we use a password manager
so everyone should be using them properly now :smiley:

tell us what kind of tacos you like… meat? fish? ice cream? What ingredients do you like and what do you wrap them in? Is a burger served on lettuce with no bun actually a taco?

I don’t often have them, but the best ones I had were hard tacos from Barburrito, I had spicy pork, beans, onion, chillis and spicy bbq sauce. Epic.

Tell us something that makes your boss a good boss.

To be honest my boss is awesome, he does quite a lot for me and I can’t really complain. Too much to get into really!

Tell us how you are making a difference, or how you would like to make a difference for good in the world.
I like to think that introducing people to D&D and getting people playing that would otherwise be totally non-social is something amazing. It’s not only fun for me but I’m improving the mental health of people all around the world. I really hope that people in a tough spot can enjoy something like this.

Alternatively, if you aren’t dressing up, tell us an ideal costume or outfit you would love to have (related to the holiday or not).
Whilst I won’t be dressing up for Halloween this year, I will do a themed D&D session where I might do so. I also plan to go to Fantasy Forest next year, but the costume hasn’t been decided on yet! Last year I went as Geralt of Rivia (I was quickly dubbed ‘Thicc Geralt’ - I’ll take it lol).

4 Spice ups
3

  1. Cybersecurity Awareness Month
    I’d like to hire a dedicated CISO of I had the money.

  2. Taco Day
    Usually ground beef or fish but I prefer hardshell.

  3. Boss’ Day
    If you make sense, he’ll back you up.

  4. Make a Difference Day
    I volunteer in Scouting working with Youth.

  5. Halloween
    I always wanted to dress up as SpiceRex.

5 Spice ups
4

1. Cybersecurity Awareness Month

Related Task: tell us if you have anything going on for Cybersecurity month… are you going to instruct or test your users? Make some security changes?

Rolling out some extra training for my users. Sorry not sorry.

2. Taco Day

Related Task: tell us what kind of tacos you like… meat? fish? ice cream? What ingredients do you like and what do you wrap them in? Is a burger served on lettuce with no bun actually a taco?

On the 4th or the 5th, I will be getting the Margaretta’s 2 pound taco. Beef, Chicken, beans, bacon, and veggies. Oh yes. That is my fav taco.

3. Boss’ Day

Related Task: tell us something that makes your boss a good boss.

My boss recognizes the need of a work life balance, and allows me to work from home days that my son is sick (Or if I am sick sometimes)

4. Make a Difference Day

Related Task: tell us how you are making a difference, or how you would like to make a difference for good in the world.

I am trying to make sure my son grows up happy, and surrounded by love. While teaching him things he will need in life. He is only 10 months old, so it’s hard to tell what’s working, but he for sure laughs more than he cries.

5. Halloween

Related Task: if you are dressing up for Halloween this year, what will your costume be?

Probably going to be wearing my handmade Geralt armor. I have shared a picture in the cosplay group, but can share here if anyone is interested.

5 Spice ups
5

  1. Cybersecurity Awareness Month: We’re doing well to just have users remember their passwords…so…

  2. Taco Day: I’m for the classic taco…ground beef with cheese and salsa.

  3. Boss’ Day: Had a boss at the law firm that always had my back. He was what every boss should be like.

  4. Make a Difference Day: Trying to teach my kiddo about life and to let him know he isn’t alone.

  5. Halloween: Never got to dress up for Halloween as a kid, so I didn’t really get to experience it at all. As an adult, well, there’s still no real point, IMO.

3 Spice ups
6

1. Cybersecurity Awareness Month

We are focusing on this actually annually at work… so we are changing “All the Things”

2. Taco Day

I’m strictly old school… Meat as in ground beef… crispy over soft preferred but both are good. Seafood has NO place on my tacos.

3. Boss’ Day

I miss my former boss… he retired and passed away a few months back… by far the best boss I could ever hope to have.

4. Make a Difference Day

I think I make a difference in my Children and Grandchildren…

5. Halloween

I’m not dressing up… but the idea costume? Something like the REAL Darth Vader outfit would be awesome!

4 Spice ups
7

1. Cybersecurity Awareness Month

Related Task: I always grab KnowBe4’s cybersecurity kit and post some of the items they have, hoping even one person will read them. I’ll also be putting together a campaign to inform users of the dangers of QR codes. Those things are the bane of our existence these days.

2. Taco Day

Related Task: Traditional ground beef, diced tomatoes (the Ro-Tel ones with the green chilies), cheese and sour cream in hard shells.

3. Boss’ Day

Related Task: I’ve been very lucky and have had fantastic bosses nearly every place I’ve worked. My current one is VP of Production, so he is not an IT person and basically just lets me do my thing and I’ll go for weeks at a time without even seeing him, but if I need his buy-in on something, he’s always receptive and almost always forks over the $$ if I can justify it.

4. Make a Difference Day

Related Task: I’d like to think my positive attitude makes the world a better place. Even in challenging situations, I try to be polite and keep a smile on my face, no matter what the situation. I also do a lot of volunteer work for several pet shelters and rescues in my area.

5. Halloween

Related Task: I won’t be dressing up, but we live in a very popular area and have hundreds of kids visit our house on Halloween. My favorite costumes are where the whole family gets in the fun and dress up in very creative (typically non-storebought) costumes. My favorite was a momma monkey pulling all her monkey kids in a wagon decorated to look like a barrel. She had a barrel of monkeys!

4 Spice ups
8

  1. CyberSec Month - Doing a promo about website security.

  2. Taco Day - I enjoy fish tacos, shrimp tacos, crawfish taco. Basically any kind of taco with seafood in it. A burger in a tortilla with some lettuce is still just a burger. Typically a burger you make out of desperation after you already started making the patty and realized the buns were expired and had mold.

  3. My boss is super chill and cares all the people that work for him. He’s very open-minded and has some of the best ideas.

  4. Make a difference day - We work with a lot of non-profits that have different causes. For instance just right now Im working on a website for addiction recovery resources, another for a training platform for people who adopt kids or work in foster care, and Im working on a site for an organization thats gets homeless people off the street. I like to think my work on these different projects makes a difference somewhere to someone.

  5. Halloween - I was originally going as Pee Wee Herman, but my partner didn’t want to be a talking chair. So we decided on going as Wayne and Garth from Waynes World instead. I’m going to be Wayne.

3 Spice ups
9

1. Cybersecurity Awareness Month Alternatively, if you don’t have any plans, tell us what you would like to do if you had more money/resources/time to invest in cybersecurity. Where I work there is a whole cyber security team. I’ve really liked using KnowBe4 in the past and if I had a say in security I would use that again. I also think we should implement more passwordless sign on options like Hypr .

2. Taco Day Related Task: tell us what kind of tacos you like… meat? fish? ice cream? What ingredients do you like and what do you wrap them in? Is a burger served on lettuce with no bun actually a taco? I like beef soft tacos

Alternatively, if you aren’t into tacos, I’m going to assume you’ve never had one.

3. Boss’ Day Related Task: tell us something that makes your boss a good boss. He pretty much leaves alone to accomplish the task. He’s also more concerned about the task being accomplished than about if you we on the clock for 40 hours.

Alternatively, tell us about a past boss that was exceptional in some way, or tell us something you do, or would like to do as a supervisor or boss yourself.

I still feel like my best boss was when I was in HR before IT. Under her I went from part time contract to full time and promoted. Also she wasn’t concerned with mistakes as much as learning how to fix issues.

4. Make a Difference Day Related Task: tell us how you are making a difference, or how you would like to make a difference for good in the world.

I support my church as a treasurer and other tasks as needed.

5. Halloween Alternatively, if you aren’t dressing up, tell us an ideal costume or outfit you would love to have (related to the holiday or not). Maybe Aragorn from LOTR, because then I could wear a sword.

4 Spice ups
10

1. Cybersecurity Awareness Month

Doing some pentesting and also issuing some more articles for KnowBe4 for our users.

2. Taco Day

Just the standard ground beef, shredded lettuce and Mexican cheese blend. I do miss the Cool Ranch tacos from Taco Bell as those were my favorite.

3. Boss’ Day

Not being a micro-manager or hovering boss. As long as you are getting the work done, he doesn’t care how you do it. Also understanding the work life balance and if you have to miss a day that it is no big deal.

4. Make a Difference Day

I think I make a difference everyday by raising my two girls up in today’s world. Living by the golden rule and making sure that my kids know that they matter and to not be afraid to speak their voice.

5. Halloween

Dressing up as a Medieval sorcerer and also wearing the costume to the upcoming Ren fair.

4 Spice ups
11

1) Cybersecurity Awareness Month
What am I doing for Cybersecurity Awareness Month? Apart from making sure everything is patched to within an inch of its life? I think we’re due a Phish Threat campaign. I wonder if we can time that for Hallowe’en?

2) Taco Day
We actually did soft tacos for Christmas dinner last year. Pulled beef chilli, homemade salsa, shredded Brussels sprouts in with the lettuce… That was actually really nice.
Equally though, I do eat a lot of fruit at work - mainly bananas and apples. The bananas are a constant source of amusement to my partner as she already thinks I’m part gorilla, although they are also good for potassium which is useful some nerve damage I have in my arm.

3) Boss’ Day
It does help that the people in my chain of command all have senses of humour. I can be very blunt, but they do seem to understand that. My immediate boss has been a lot better since COVID - he used to micromanage quite a bit, but has relaxed and just lets us get on with it.

4) Make a Difference Day
How can we all make a difference, and how do I try? I try to be nice to people. Pay compliments. Make them smile if I can. I may have been having a crap day, but it is quite possible theirs has been worse and you don’t know it, so just be nice to them.

5) Halloween
What would my costume be if I was dressing up this year? I might redo the Hellboy costume I did a few years ago for a Superhero themed day at work. The Right Hand of Doom I made is on my bookshelf, the rest of the stuff is around, and I now have a BPRD t-shirt to add to it.

3 Spice ups
12
  1. Cybersecurity Awareness Month

I finally got approval to kick off all the BYOD that was allowed to happen under the previous owners. They “thought” they were saving money.

  1. Taco Day

I love plain old Barbacoa with onion, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime on a freshly made corn tortilla. Could eat a bunch, and have.

  1. Boss’ Day

Had a boss, really the owner, before he “retired” that used to let me use his 400 plus acres to go hunting almost any time I wanted. His family used to go all the time, but as they lost interest, only would go a couple times a year. He let me bring a Scout group out there any time we wanted, and I had to force him to come out when we were there. He liked having people out there enjoying nature. The last few years he let me bring a bunch of disabled veterans out for a weekend to hunt or shoot or just hang out. He enjoyed that also. But alas he is 89 and has decided to sell as the kids have no interest in it.

  1. Make a Difference Day

I have gotten more involved with disabled veterans after my son (a medic) returned from Somalia. He was unscathed, but some of his buddies were not as lucky.

  1. Halloween

No dressing up for me. I worked at a haunted House for many years doing set building and repairs in the off season, and did lights and sound work during the season.

I appreciate the work that people put into it.

3 Spice ups
13

1. Cybersecurity Awareness Month

We’ll have paid social posts centered on cybersecurity–mostly for our cybersecure UPS network card .

15ca8330-005c-4184-83d2-42ea2ba70784-eaton-cyber-puzzles.JPG
15ca8330-005c-4184-83d2-42ea2ba70784-eaton-cyber-puzzles.JPG800×293 51.9 KB

2. Taco Day

My wife makes the best ground beef tacos on the planet, but I’ve been digging these shrimp tacos lately: Sam The Cooking Guy's Recipes, Books, and Restaurants

3. Boss’ Day

A good listens and takes an interest in what you do.

4. Make a Difference Day

My focus is on my wife and 3 children. I’m hoping that my children will make a difference long after I’m gone.

5. Halloween

Maybe I’ll pull out my costume from Spiceworld this year.

3379e7e4-2aa0-4c75-ba06-4855f282ee1c-Joes-2.JPG
3379e7e4-2aa0-4c75-ba06-4855f282ee1c-Joes-2.JPG800×600 142 KB

7 Spice ups
14
  1. Cybersecurity Awareness Month

Related Task: if you don’t have any plans, tell us what you would like to do if you had more money/resources/time to invest in cybersecurity.

A: Try to Phish and scam our employees to the tee. Every single method should be tested on them daily for like 2 straight weeks. They have been pretty good lately though.

  1. Taco Day

Related Task: tell us what kind of tacos you like… meat? fish? ice cream? What ingredients do you like and what do you wrap them in? Is a burger served on lettuce with no bun actually a taco?

A: Asada and Al Pastor baby!!! Get them Cabezas too. Yummy, yummy in my tummy.

  1. Boss’ Day

October 16th is Boss’ Day, a day to celebrate good supervisors and bosses. None of them are perfect, but they are often what make or break a job.

Related Task: tell us about a past boss that was exceptional in some way, or tell us something you do, or would like to do as a supervisor or boss yourself.

A: I had a boss that was no BS. Her rule “no excuses just tell me things straight up”.

  1. Make a Difference Day

Related Task: tell us how you are making a difference, or how you would like to make a difference for good in the world.

A: Ms. Universe answer, End World Hunger

  1. Halloween

Related Task: if you aren’t dressing up, tell us an ideal costume or outfit you would love to have (related to the holiday or not).

A: Cabbage merchant from ATLA

2 Spice ups
15

1. Cybersecurity Awareness Month

Become a consultant to establish security processes that meet the lowest common denominator (LCD) for security awareness. Teach classes about it. Then help companies establish a proper education/remediation plan for employees.

2. Taco Day

Tacos with carne asada, ground beef, cheese, lettuce and guac

3. Boss’ Day

Current bosses: I have two as my company was recently purchased. Both bosses are attentive when I need help and hands-off when I don’t and willing to mentor me.

4. Make a Difference Day

October 23rd is Make a Difference Day it is also my sister’s birthday. Reading is Fundamental (RIF). Teach children to read and write and think critically. Lest we fall victim to what George Orwell says, “If people cannot write well, they cannot think well, and if they cannot think well, others will do their thinking for them."

5. Halloween

8275007e-93d6-47af-b858-3f1ffb8f0760-3600-red-z1-t-loading-costume-exe-please-wait.jpg

1 Spice up
16

1. Cybersecurity Awareness Month

I don’t have any security changes that I’ll be making but I am looking forward to OpenText’s Nastiest Malware report!

2. Taco Day

I’m from Southern California so I LOVE tacos. I don’t think there is one taco I’d turn down they are all amazing in their own ways. Though after spending some time in Austin in recent years I have developed a deep love for breakfast tacos. I love mine with bacon, egg, cheese and of course some hot sauce.

3. Boss’ Day

I’m thankful that my boss is always around to listen and offers great suggestions on how I can improve.

4. Make a Difference Day

It’s a bit cheesy but being the change you want to see in the world. Helping others where you can and being kind above all.

5. Halloween

I don’t celebrate Halloween but I’m excited to see all the variations of Barbie costumes this year.

2 Spice ups
17

1. Cybersecurity Awareness

With Microsoft pushing for the Authenticator app rather than the old text/phone call method, we are more aware of potential risks from QR codes. Microsoft includes one that helps you install the app, but as people become comfortable scanning QR codes we need to remind the users that they need to be just as cautious with them as other forms of phishing. QR codes are so simple most people do not think before they scan.

2. Taco Day

The versatility of a taco makes it one of the ultimate forms of food. You can put anything in a taco, as long as you have a tortilla or other wrap to keep it together. If a Choco-Taco is a taco then a Gyro can be too.

3. Boss Day

Not to brag, but my boss is really great. I admire her knowledge and her staunch resolve. She has many years in the field, and plenty of certifications to boot. We try to do everything the right way, not the easy way. No micromanagement, and she trusts the team to get the job done right. Freedom is a big plus. We do what we can to keep the small stuff under control to give her time to focus on the big things. Then, when the time comes, the big things are trickled down to the team to help where needed. We are also given plenty of chances to learn on the job with side projects and access to online learning like CBTnuggets. Really great boss. Thanks Christine!

4. Make a Difference Day

Funny that this one is up here. In my current role I get to help people everyday. It could be something small like adjusting display settings, or it could be a hair-pulling printer setup. Either way it is rewarding helping others. Just think – if you get frustrated doing a “typical” IT task, but you solve it, how much stress are we saving the user from? Everyone has a different level of computer experience/literacy so you never really know how much of a difference you are making for someone when you fix their computer. Go IT!

5. Halloween

I do not celebrate Halloween anymore, I think a lot of the joy of the holiday left me as my youthful imagination dwindled. Or maybe it was the realization that the real monsters we need to be afraid of rarely wear masks. If I were to wear a costume to go trick-or-treating I would be a ninja. Throwback to when little me still liked Halloween.

4 Spice ups
18

1) Tell us if you have anything going on for Cybersecurity month… are you going to instruct or test your users? Make some security changes? We’ll be continuing to simulate phishing attemps on our users, they’ve been doing a great job of reaching out to us when something looks suspicious!

2) Tell us what kind of tacos you like… meat? fish? ice cream? What ingredients do you like and what do you wrap them in? Is a burger served on lettuce with no bun actually a taco? I like them all, honestly. I sure do miss Choco Tacos though :(. My favorite tacos are street tacos with either Al Pastor or Carne Asada, cilantro, grilled onions, and the hottest salsa or hot sauce I can get my hands on!

3) Tell us something that makes your boss a good boss. While my boss isn’t perfect, he’s about as fantastic of a boss as I’ve ever had in my IT career. Of the many things he does well, I think the one that I appreciate the most is how he doesn’t micromanage myself or my coworkers at all - he sets his expectations and leaves it to us to meet those goals. He’s also encouraging and has a true passion for technology.

4) Tell us how you are making a difference, or how you would like to make a difference for good in the world. I think I’m making a difference for good in the world by raising my children with strong moral values. I’m teaching them to not be afraid of hard work, how to appreciate knowledge gained from experience and from researching whatever they find interesting, and teaching them right vs. wrong. I couldn’t be more proud of the men they are growing up to be!

5) If you are dressing up for Halloween this year, what will your costume be? I’m planning on dressing up as a wizard again, but this time I’m bringing a football and possibly a football helmet into the costume. I’ll be dressing up as fantasy football, should get some good laughs from the team!

3 Spice ups
19

1. Alternatively, if you don’t have any plans, tell us what you would like to do if you had more money/resources/time to invest in cybersecurity.
We have to go through cybersecurity training every year, I’d change it to this month.

2. Related Task: tell us what kind of tacos you like… meat? fish? ice cream? What ingredients do you like and what do you wrap them in? Is a burger served on lettuce with no bun actually a taco?
Fish tacos!

3. Related Task: tell us something that makes your boss a good boss.
He makes sure to listen to everyone, doesn’t outright say that an idea is bad - just redirects the conversation, gives tasks and let me do them on my own, and assist when needed. He protects everyone from working too much and understands when we need time off for appointments and personal things.

4. Related Task: tell us how you are making a difference, or how you would like to make a difference for good in the world.
Not sure if this counts, but I help organize local music events for the community.

5. Related Task: if you are dressing up for Halloween this year, what will your costume be?
Probably a shibainu onesie.

2 Spice ups
20
  1. Cybersecurity Awareness Month

Alternatively, if you don’t have any plans, tell us what you would like to do if you had more money/resources/time to invest in cybersecurity. - I would love to be able to hire a firm to do our Cybersecurity for us - being a one-man shop, the security part can sometimes get lost in the weeds.

  1. Taco Day

Related Task: tell us what kind of tacos you like… meat? fish? ice cream? What ingredients do you like and what do you wrap them in? Is a burger served on lettuce with no bun actually a taco? - I’m a pretty basic guy - beef or chicken with all the fixins - but it needs to be on a hard shell!

  1. Boss’ Day

Related Task: tell us something that makes your boss a good boss. - She lets me do my thing, and trusts me to do my job. I think that’s the big one - Trust.

  1. Make a Difference Day

Related Task: tell us how you are making a difference, or how you would like to make a difference for good in the world. - Be a positive influence for the people in my life; my kids, my partner, my friends. Project that positivity.

  1. Halloween

Related Task: if you are dressing up for Halloween this year, what will your costume be? - Rodney Dangerfield from Caddyshack. :slight_smile: I’ve got the knickers!!

3 Spice ups