Career Notes

Teresa Shea: The challenge of adapting new technologies. [Intelligence] Nov 17, 2024

Please enjoy this encore episode, where the Vice President of Raytheon's Cyber Offense, Defense Expert Teresa Shea speaks of her journey from math to adapting new technologies on the cutting edge, With a love of math, Teresa was offered a scholarship by the Society of Women Engineering and decided to pursue a degree in electrical engineering. Unsurprisingly, there were few other women in her program, Teresa interned with and then proceeded to work for the National Security Agency becoming their SIGINT director. Following her government career, Teresa worked to help bring new technologies to government through her work at Raytheon. We thank Teresa for sharing her story with us.

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Kevin Magee: Focus on the archer. [CSO] Nov 10, 2024

Enjoy this special encore episode where we are joined by Chief Security Officer of Microsoft Canada Kevin Magee, he's sharing his background as a historian and how it applies to his work in cybersecurity. Likening himself to a dashing Indiana Jones, Kevin talks about how he sees history unfolding and the most interesting things right now are happening in security. Spending time tinkering with things in the university's computer room under the stairs gave way to Kevin's love affair with technology. As Chief Security Officer, Kevin says he uses an analogy: "I think we focus on the arrows, not the the archer" meaning there's too much focus on the attacks rather than the ones mounting them. As a historian and witness to our current history, Kevin sees the changes all affecting cybersecurity. We thank Kevin for sharing his story with us.

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Dinah Davis: Building your network. [R&D] Nov 03, 2024

Please enjoy this encore episode, where we are joined by VP of R&D at Arctic Wolf Networks Dinah Davis, as she shares how she arrived in the cybersecurity industry after finding her niche. Dinah recalls how at a time of indecision, a computer course at university and a job with the Canadian government helped to solidify her career direction. Dinah mentions how "security and cryptography specifically was this perfect mix of real world problem solving and mathematics and computer science all combined into one ball of happiness." Networking played a key role in Dinah's journey. She recommends that those interested in joining the field to go for what they believe in. And, we thank Dinah for sharing her story with us.

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Stephen Hamilton: Getting the mission to the next level. [Military] Oct 27, 2024

Enjoy this special encore episode where we are joined by Army Cyber Institute Technical Director and Chief of Staff Colonel Stephen Hamilton, as he takes us on his computer science journey. Fascinated with computers since the second grade, Stephen chose West Point after high school to study computer science. Following graduation he moved into the signal branch as it most closely matched his interest in ham radio as no branch related directly to computing. He was pulled from the motor pool to help with another area's computing needs and then worked his way to teaching computer science at. West Point and US Cyber Command. Stephen recommends coding it first to help realize the nuances, and then code it again. We thank Stephen for sharing his story with us.

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Aarti Borkar: Make your own choices. [Product] Oct 20, 2024

Enjoy this special encore episode where we are joined by the Head of Product for IBM Security Aarti Borkar, who shares her journey which included going after her lifelong love of math rather than following in her parents' footsteps in the medical field. In following her passions, Aarti found herself studying computer engineering and computer science, and upon taking a pause from her studies, she found a niche working at IBM in a mix of databases and networking. In her current position, Aarti describes her favorite discussion topics very often involve being around the use of AI for converting security into predictive domains. Aarti reminds us that you should pause and see if you are on the right path. Staying on a path just because you started there can be a bad idea. And, we thank Aarti for sharing her story.

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Billy Wilson: Translating language skills to technical skills. [HPC] Oct 13, 2024

Enjoy this special encore episode, where we are joined by a High Performance Computing Systems Administrator at Brigham Young University. Billy Wilson tells his cybersecurity career story translating language skills to technical skills. According to Billy's employer, moving to a technical position at his alma mater occurred because Billy showed this potential and a thirst for learning. He is currently pursuing his master's degree from SANS Technology Institute for Information Security Engineering while working to secure BYU's data for their computationally-intensive research. Billy notes that not everyone has one overarching passion which gives him variety in his work. And, we thank Billy for sharing his story with us.

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Dr. Jessica Barker: Cybersecurity has a huge people element to it. [Socio-technical] Oct 06, 2024

Enjoy this encore episode where we are joined by Co-founder and socio-technical lead at Cygenta, Dr. Jessica Barker, as she shares her story from childhood career aspirations of becoming a farmer to her accidental pivot to working in cybersecurity. With a PhD in civic design, Jessica looked at the creation of social and civic places until she was approached by a cybersecurity consultancy interested in the human side of cybersecurity. She jumped in and the rest is history. Having experienced some negativity as a woman in cybersecurity, Jessica is a strong proponent of diversity in the field. She suggests that newcomers to the industry follow what interests them and jump in. And, we thank Jessica for sharing her story with us.

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Jason Clark: Challenge the way things are done. [Strategy] Sep 29, 2024

Enjoy this encore episode where we are joined by the Chief strategy officer and chief security officer for Netskope, Jason Clark, shares his journey as he challenges the status quo and works to expand diversity in cybersecurity. Jason started his career by breaking the mold and heading to the Air Force rather than his family legacy of Army service. Following his military service, he became a CISO for the New York Times at age 26 and kept building from there. Jason advises, "You should always be seeking out jobs you're actually not qualified for. I think that's how you grow. If you know you could do the job, and you've got half the skills, go for it." Jason aspires to a legacy of increasing diversity in the cybersecurity industry and founded a non-profit to do just that. And, we thank Jason for sharing his story with us.

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Kyla Guru: You are a key piece to our national security. [Education] Sep 22, 2024

Enjoy this special encore episode, where we are jjoined by Founder and CEO of nonprofit Bits N' Bytes Cybersecurity Education and undergraduate student at Stanford University, Kyla Guru shares her journey from GenCyber Camp to becoming a cybersecurity thought leader. Seeing the need. for cybersecurity education in her own community spurred Kyla into action engaging our civilian population in understanding their role in the cybersecurity space. Kyla recommends putting yourself out there: taking courses, getting more knowledge, getting internships, meeting people and going to conferences. Kyla thinks her generation has an inquisitive mind and feels that is where advocacy and education come in with cybersecurity. She shares for any young person "thinking about maybe starting something in security, this is definitely the time to do so." And, we thank Kyla for sharing her story with us.

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Ben Yelin: A detour could be a sliding door moment. [Policy] Sep 15, 2024

Enjoy this encore of Carerr Notes, where the Program Director for Public Policy and External Affairs at the University of Maryland's Center for Health and Homeland Security Ben Yelin shares his journey from political junkie to Fourth Amendment specialist. Several significant life defining political developments like the disputed 2000 election, 9/11, and the Iraqi war occurred during his formative years that shaped Ben's interest in public policy and his desire to pursue a degree in law. An opportunity to be a teaching assistant turned out to be one of those sliding door scenarios that led Ben to where he is now, a lawyer in the academic and consulting worlds specializing in cybersecurity and digital privacy issues. Through his work, Ben hopes to elevate the course of the debate on these very important issues. And, we thank Ben for sharing his story with us.

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Ann Johnson: Trying to make the world safer. [Business Development] Sep 08, 2024

Enjoy this special encore episode where we are joined by, Microsoft's Corporate Vice President of Cybersecurity Business Development Ann Johnson brings us on her career journey from aspiring lawyer to cybersecurity executive. After pivoting from studying law, Ann started working with computers and found she had a deep technical aptitude for technology and started earning certifications landing in cybersecurity because she found an interest in PKI. At Microsoft, Ann says she solves some of the hardest problems every day. She recommends getting a mentor and finding your area of expertise. She leaves us with three dimensions she hopes to be her legacy: 1. diversity in more than just gender, 2. bringing a human aspect to the industry, and 3. being empathetic to the user experience. We thank Ann for sharing her story with us.

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Tom Gorup: Fail fast and fail forward. [Operations] Sep 01, 2024

Enjoy this encore episode with Vice President of Security and Support Operations of Alert Logic Tom Gorup shares how his career path led him from tactics learned in Army infantry using machine guns and claymores to cybersecurity replacing the artillery with antivirus and firewalls. Tom built a security automation solution called the Grunt (in recollection of his role in the Army) that automated firewall blocks. He credits his experience in battle-planning for his expertise in applying strategic thinking to work in cybersecurity, noting that communication is key in both scenarios. Tom advises that those looking into a new career shouldn't shy away from failure as failure is just another opportunity to learn. We thank Tom for sharing his story with us.

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Ellen Sundra: Actions speak louder than words. [Engineering] Aug 25, 2024

Enjoy this special encore episode, where we are joined by Vice President of Global Systems Engineering Ellen Sundra and she shares her career path from life as a college grad who found her niche by creating a training program to a leader in cybersecurity. She realized that training and educating people was her passion. Ellen sees her value in providing soft skills as a natural balance to her technical team at Forescout Technologies. Being a woman in a male-dominated world proved to be a challenge and gaining her confidence to share her unique point of view helped her excel in it. Ellen recommends keeping your eyes open for how your skill set fits into cybersecurity. Find your perspective and really embrace it! We thank Ellen for sharing her story with us.

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Robert Lee: Keeping the lights on. [ICS] Aug 18, 2024

Enjoy this special encore with CEO and co-founder of Dragos Robert Lee, as he talks about how he came to cybersecurity through industrial control systems. Growing up with parents in the Air Force, Robert's father tried to steer him away from military service. Still Rob chose to attend the Air Force Academy where he had greater exposure to computers through ICS. Robert finds his interest lies in things that impact the physical world around us. In his work, Dragos focuses on identifying what people are doing bad and helping people understand how to defend against that. Rob describes the possibility of making a jump to control system security from another area recommending you bring something to the table. Rob talks about the world he would like to leave to his son and his hopes for the future. We thank Rob for sharing his story with us.

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Andrea Little Limbago: Look at the intersection of the of humans and technology. [Social Science] Aug 11, 2024

Computational Social Scientist Andrea Little Limbago shares her journey as a social scientist in cybersecurity. Andrea laments that she wishes she'd known there is no straight line between what you think you want to do and then where you end up going. Beginning her career in international relations and courted by the Department of Defense's Joint Warfare Analysis Center while teaching at New York University, Andrea began her work in cybersecurity. Her team was one of the first to start thinking about the intersection of cybersecurity and geopolitics and quantitative modeling. Andrea reminds us there are many paths and skills needed in cybersecurity and hopes she's opened some doors for others. We thank Andrea for sharing her story with us.

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Ron Brash: Problem fixer in critical infrastructure. [OT] Aug 04, 2024

Director of Cyber Security Insights at Verve Industrial aka self-proclaimed industrial cybersecurity geek Ron Brash shares his journey through the industrial cybersecurity space. From taking his parents 286s and 386s to task to working for the "OG of industrial cybersecurity," Ron has pushed limits. Starting off in technical testing, racing through university at 2x speed, and taking a detour through neuroscience with machine learning, Ron decided to return to critical infrastructure working with devices that keep the lights on and the water flowing. Ron hopes his work makes an impact and his life is memorable for those he cares about. We thank Ron for sharing his story with us.

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Encore: Camille Stewart: Technology becomes more of an equalizer. [Legal] Jul 28, 2024

Cybersecurity attorney Camille Stewart shares how her childhood affinity for making contracts pointed to her eventual career as an attorney. Having a computer scientist father contributed to Camille's technical acumen and desire to include technology in her life's work. Camille has worked various facets of cybersecurity law from the private sector, federal government, on the Hill and in the Executive Branch, and now as part of Big Tech as Head of Security Policy and Election Integrity for Google Play and Android where she creates policy geared towards making sure users are safe on their platform and equipped to make informed decisions.. We thank Camille for sharing her story with us.

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Encore: James Hadley: Spend time on what interests you. [CEO] Jul 21, 2024

Founder and CEO of Immersive Labs James Hadley takes us through his career path from university to cybersecurity startup. James tells us about his first computer and how he liked to push it to its limits and then some. He joined GCHQ after college and consulted across government departments. Teaching in GCHQ's cyber summer school was where James felt a shift in his career. As a company founder, he shares that he is very driven, very fast and also very caring. James offers advice to those looking to get into the industry recommending they chase what interests them rather than certifications. We thank James for sharing his story with us.

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Encore: Malek Ben Salem: Taking those challenges. [R&D] Jul 14, 2024

Americas Security R&D Lead for Accenture Malek Ben Salem shares how she pivoted from her love of math and background in electrical engineering to a career in cybersecurity R&D. Malek talks about her interest in astrophysics as a young girl, and how her affinity for math and taking on challenges lead her to a degree in electrical engineering. She grew her career using math for data mining and forecasting eventually pursuing a masters and PhD in computer science where she shifted her focus to cybersecurity. Malek now develops and applies new AI techniques to solve security problems at Accenture. We thank Malek for sharing her story with us.

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Encore: Richard Clarke: From presidential inspiration to cybersecurity policy pioneer. [Policy] Jul 07, 2024

CEO and consultant Richard Clarke took his inspiration from President John F Kennedy and turned it into the first cybersecurity position in federal government. Determined to help change the mindset of war, Richard went to work for the Department of Defense at the Pentagon following college during the Vietnam War. From Assistant Secretary of the State Department, he moved to the White House to work for President George W. Bush's administration where he kept an eye on Al-Qaeda and was tasked to take on cybersecurity. Lacking any books or courses to give him a basic understanding of cybersecurity, Richard made it his mission to raise the level of cybersecurity knowledge. Currently as Chairman and CEO at Good Harbor Security Risk Management, Richard advises CISOs. We thank Richard for sharing his story with us.

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Encore Carole Theriault: Constantly learning new things. [Media] Jun 30, 2024

Communications consultant and podcaster Carole Theriault always loved radio and through her career dabbled in many areas .She landed in a communications and podcasting role where she helps technical firms create audio and digital content. In fact, Carole is the CyberWire's UK Correspondent. She says cybersecurity is good place to go because of the many different avenues available and "you don't even have to be a tech head" (though Carole has quite a technical pedigree). Our thanks to Carole for sharing her story with us.

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Encore: Sal Aurigemma: How things work. [Education] Jun 23, 2024

Associate Professor of Computer Information Systems at the University of Tulsa Sal Aurigemma shares how his interest in how things worked shaped his career path in nuclear power and computers, Being introduced to computers in high school and learning about the Chernobyl event led Sal to study nuclear engineering followed by time in the Navy as a submarine officer. On the submarine, Sal had to understand how systems worked from soup to nuts and that let him back to IT. As a computer engineer, Sal spent a lot of time on network troubleshooting and was eventually introduced to cybersecurity. Following 9/11, cybersecurity took on greater importance. Sal's research focuses on behavioral cybersecurity. To newcomers, he suggests heading into things with an open mind and doesn't recommend giving users 24-character passwords that have two upper, two lower, and two special characters that cannot be written down. We thank Sal for sharing his story with us.

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Encore: Rosa Smothers: Secure the planet. [Intelligence] Jun 16, 2024

Senior VP of Cyber Operations at KnowBe4, Rosa Smothers, talks about her career as an early cybersecurity professional in what she describes as the Wild, Wild West to her path through government intelligence work. Rosa shares how she always knew she wanted to be involved with computers and how being a big Star Trek nerd and fan particularly of Spock and Uhura helped shape her direction. Following 9/11, Rosa wanted to work for the government and pursue the bad guys and she did just that completing her bachelor's degree and starting in the Defense Intelligence Agency as a cyber threat analyst focusing on extremist groups. She joined the CIA and worked on things you see in the movies, things that are science fictionesque. Rosa recommends talking with people to get your feet wet to find your passion. We thank Rosa for sharing her story with us.

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Encore: Geoff White: Suddenly all of the pieces start to line up. [Journalism] Jun 09, 2024

Investigative journalist and author Geoff White talks about tracing a line through the dots of his career covering technology. Geoff shares that he has always been "quite geeky," but came to covering technology after several roles in the journalism industry. Newspapers, magazines and television were all media Geoff worked in before covering technology. Geoff got into journalism not due to the glamour sometimes associated with it, but because he wanted to fight for the public to cover stories that helped those who didn't have massive amounts of money, power or a huge lobbying campaign in political circles. When writing his book, Crime Dot Com, Geoff reflected on the cybercrime and cybersecurity stories he's covered and saw how things started falling into place. Our thanks to Geoff for sharing his story with us.

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Encore: Diane M. Janosek: It's only together that we are going to rise. [Education] Jun 02, 2024

Commandant for the National Security Agency's National Cryptologic School Diane M. Janosek shares the story of her career going global Diane explains how she's always been drawn to doing things that could help and raise the nation. From a position as a law clerk during law school, to the role of a judicial clerk, and joining the White House Counsel's office, Diane was exposed to many things and felt she experienced the full circle. Moving on to the Pentagon and finally, the NSA, Diane transitioned into her current role where she orchestrates the educational environment for military and civilian cyber and cryptologists worldwide for the nation. Diane encourages those who love to learn to join the multidisciplinary cybersecurity field. Our thanks to Diane for sharing her story with us.

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Encore: Richard Torres: Getting that level of experience is going to be crucial. [Security Operations] May 26, 2024

Director of security operations at Syntax Richard Torres talks about his path leading him working in juvenile justice to becoming a private investigator to physical security at a nuclear power plant to cybersecurity presently. Always a fan of police shows, Richard became a member of the Air Force Junior ROTC in high school and began his path there. Richard shares the challenges of working in several facets of the security industry including his transition from SWAT team member to cybersecurity. He notes the role that diplomacy plays when you're trying to get honesty and be steered in the right direction. Our thanks to Richard for sharing his story with us.

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Encore: Monica Ruiz: Moving ahead when not many look like you. [Policy] May 19, 2024

Cyber Initiative and Special Projects Fellow at the Hewlett Foundation Monica Ruiz shares her career development from aspirations of being a weather woman to her current role as a grantmaker and connector in cybersecurity. Monica discusses how her international study experience changed her outlook and brought her to the field of security. She shares the difficulties she faced as a woman of color when when not that many people look like you, and how she used that as her reason to move forward and better the cybersecurity field through her work. Our thanks to Monica for sharing her story with us.

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Encore: Brandon Robinson: Built from the ground up. [Sales Engineer] May 12, 2024

Cybersecurity Sales Engineer Brandon Robinson shares how he built his career in technology and the barriers he experienced along the way. He talks about how his job involves him interacting with customers at the highest levels making sure their solution is meeting needs. In addition, Brandon describes how as a black man and a trailblazer, he's been met with resistance. His positive spin on moving ahead involves relying on himself. Brandon's advice: find your passion, don't be intimidated and you will be met with success. Our thanks to Brandon for sharing his story with us.

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Encore: Elizabeth Wharton: Strong shoulders for someone else to stand on. [Legal] May 05, 2024

Technology attorney and startup chief of staff Elizabeth Wharton shares her experiences and how she came to work with companies in technology. Elizabeth talks about how she always liked solving problems and Nancy Drew mysteries, but not litigation. These morphed finding into her home in the policy legal world and some time later, technology law. Elizabeth describes how she loves planning and strategy in her work and encourages others to ask questions and absorb all of the information. Our thanks to Elizabeth for sharing her story with us.

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Encore: Jack Rhysider: Get your experience points in everything. [Media] Apr 28, 2024

Host of Darknet Diaries podcast Jack Rhysider shares his experiences from studying computer engineering at university to his strategy of using gamification on his career that led to him landing in the security space. Jack talks about how his wide experiences came together in security and what prompted him to learn podcasting. Jack endeavors to share the whole story through his podcasts while making them entertaining, enlightening and inspirational. Our thanks to Jack for sharing his story with us.

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Encore: Kiersten Todt: problem solving and building solutions. [Policy] Apr 21, 2024

Managing director of the Cyber Readiness Institute Kiersten Todt shares how she came to be in the cybersecurity industry helping to provide free tools and resources for small businesses through a nonprofit. She describes how her work on the Hill prior to and just after 9/11 changed. Kiersten talks about the diversity of skills that benefit work in cybersecurity and offers her advice on going after what you want to do. Our thanks to Kiersten for sharing her story with us.

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Encore: Stu Sjouwerman: Trying for a win, win, win game. [CEO] Apr 14, 2024

Founder and CEO Stu Sjouwerman takes us on a journey of how his career developed from starting a software service company to currently focusing on the infosec side of the business where his team essentially helps to create human firewalls. Stu talks about learning all aspects of the business while creating startups and suggests you learn to speak the language of the area you are looking to get into. He even touches on predicting the future and taking over the world. Our thanks to Stu for sharing his story with us.

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Encore: Selena Larson: The Green Goldfish and cyber threat intelligence. [Analyst] Apr 07, 2024

Cyber threat intelligence analyst Selena Larson takes us on her career journey from being a journalist to making the switch to industrial security. As a child who wrote a book about a green goldfish who dealt with bullying, Selena always liked investigating and researching things. Specializing in cybersecurity journalism led to the realization of how closely aligned or similar skills are required from an investigative journalist and a cyber threat intelligence analyst. Our thanks to Selena for sharing her story with us.

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Encore: Liji Samuel: Leaping beyond the barrier. [Certification] Mar 31, 2024

Liji Samuel from NSA sits down to share her exciting career path through the years until she found a job working for as Chief of Standards and Certification at NSA's Cyber Collaboration Center. She starts by sharing that she had always wanted to work in the STEM field, explaining that growing up she was surrounded with older cousins who were choosing STEM careers and it became an interesting topic for her. She accounts working for a number of companies that helped her grow into the role she is in now. Cybersecurity became a big buzzword for her, causing her to step out of the agency into US cyber command to help take up a management position for the architecture and engineering division. From there, she continued her cybersecurity journey first as the exploration director before moving into where she is now. Liji shares that there were barriers along the way that she had to endure and hop over to get to the right path. She says "So there are challenges and barriers that come across constantly with our work. Um, one just has to pause and reflect on how we can work with it, around it, or influence like our stakeholders and jointly create a vision around it." We thank Liji for sharing her story with us.

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Encore: Marcelle Lee: Cyber sleuth detecting emerging threats. [Research] Mar 24, 2024

Senior security researcher from Secureworks Marcelle Lee shares her career journey into cybersecurity and how she helps solve hard problems in her daily work. Marcelle came into cybersecurity not through any traditional path. She describes her route from a different field and starting in cyber at her local community college through a grant program. Marcelle took full advantage of the opportunities she had and grew her career from there. She recommends finding your specialty, but continue to build other skills. As a woman in the field, she is a strong proponent of diversity and encouraging others to find what excites them. And, we thank Marcelle for sharing her story with us.

And be sure to join our live webinar: CISOs are the new Architects (of the Workforce)

Join N2K’s Simone Petrella and Intuit’s Kim Jones on Wednesday, March 27th for an online discussion about the pivotal role security leaders play in shaping the security workforce landscape, and how we can start showing up for the future of our industry. Learn more and register on the event page.

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Encore: Dawn Cappelli: Becoming the cyber fairy godmother. [OT] Mar 17, 2024

Dawn Cappelli, OT CERT Director at Dragos, sits down to share what she has learned after her 25+ year career in the industry. She recalls wanting to have been a rockstar when she grew up, now she refers to herself as the fairy godmother of security. She shares some of the amazing things she got to work on throughout her career, including working with the Secret Service when the Olympics came to Salt Lake City, Utah in 2002. She shares how she was able to rise through the ranks to get to where she is now. Dawn talks about how she wasn't ready to retire quite yet because she loved the industry so much, saying "I retired, but I knew I still loved security. I have this passion for protection and so Dragos came along and they offered me this role of Director of OT CERT. I feel like I'm the security fairy godmother." She shares words of wisdom for all trying to get into the industry, saying that you need to always take the risk like she did when she first started her career. We thank Dawn for sharing her story with us.

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Encore: Swati Shekhar: Challenges increase your risk appetite. [Engineering] Mar 10, 2024

Ground Labs' Head of Engineering, Swati Shekhar, shares her circuitous route from and back to engineering. Always being interested in leveraging the tools available to solve problems, Swati talks about how she found her place in engineering. She mentions how she had her first real experience with a computer when she was 17 in her first year at college. Aside from being one of 30 young women in a sea of 500 young men there, Swati described it as a "good culture shock because anything that takes you out of your comfort zone actually makes you learn and grow." She notes that challenges experienced in life increase your risk appetite so significantly. Swati advises those looking to make a job change to be certain of what is attracting them and to be yourself. We thank Swati for sharing her story with us.

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Encore: Pattie Dillon: Take the leap. [Anti-fraud] Mar 03, 2024

Product Manager in Anti-Fraud Solutions at SpyCloud, Pattie Dillon shares her journey from raising her family to specializing in the anti-fraud space. Upon reentering the workforce, Pattie worked on identity verification and developed a system with privacy concerns in mind. She moved to work in gift cards and was exposed to money laundering. Traveling along the fraud spectrum, Pattie learned about underground data and feels that this data can be leveraged to actually prevent and fight online fraud. Pattie believes if you don't try, you'll never know. We know we appreciate Pattie sharing her story with us.

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Encore: Chris Cochran: Rely on your strengths in the areas of the unknown. [Engineering] Feb 25, 2024

Director of Security Engineering at Marqeta and Host of Hacker Valley Studio podcast Chris Cochran describes his transitions throughout the cybersecurity industry, from an intelligence job with the Marine Corps, to starting the intelligence apparatus for the House of Representatives, then on to leading Netflix's threat intelligence capability. Chris points out that when pivoting to different roles and responsibilities, you must rely on your own strengths to move forward and bring value to your work Our thanks to Chris for sharing his story with us.

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Encore: Dominique Shelton Leipzig: No matter the statistics, even if against the odds, focus on what you want. [Legal] Feb 18, 2024

Privacy and data security lawyer, Dominique Shelton Leipzig shares that she has always wanted to be a lawyer, ever since she was a little girl. She talks about what her role is with clients in protecting and managing their data, sometimes adhering to up to 134 different data protection laws for global companies. Learn that not a lot has changed for an African-American woman partner at an Amlaw 100 firm as far as diversity during Dominique's career, and how Dominique suggests young lawyers should address those odds. Our thanks to Dominque for sharing her story with us.

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Encore: Graham Cluley: Have to be able to communicate to everybody. [Media] Feb 11, 2024

Computer security writer, podcaster and public speaker Graham Cluley describes learning to program on his own from magazines, creating text adventure games for donations, and his journey from programming to presenting and writing with a bit of tap dancing on the side. Along the way, Graham collaborated with others and learned to communicate so that all could understand, not just techies. Our thanks to Graham for sharing his story with us.

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Encore: Bilyana Lilly: Turn challenges into opportunities. [Policy] Feb 04, 2024

Cybersecurity and disinformation researcher Bilyana Lilly shares her career path from studying where she was always a foreigner to an expert on the Russian perspective. While studying international law in Kosovo, Bilyana realized there are no winners in war. Through her work, she hopes to bring a greater understanding of Russia's strategic thinking. Our thanks to Bilyana for sharing her story with us.

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Rashmi Bharathan: Connecting is important. [Auditor] Jan 28, 2024

Rashmi Bharathan, an Information Technology Internal Auditor from Wintrust Financial Corporation sits down to share her story as a woman with 10 years in the IT industry and how she got her start. From childhood Rashmi always wanted to be a good leader, helping those around her, now she shares how helping people is a passion of hers and spends a lot of her time volunteering to help those coming into this industry. She says "It's all about, you should know your connections. That is more important. So I would say that networking and volunteering is really going to help you to grow in your career," sharing that community is the key to her success and working hard to network has been a great help to her to get her where she is today. We thank Rashmi for sharing her story with us.

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Encore: Matt Devost: Solving hard problems and pursuing your passions. [CEO] Jan 21, 2024

CEO, Matt Devost, describes many firsts in his career including hacking into systems on an aircraft carrier at sea. He shares how he enjoys solving hard problems and the red teamer perspective, and how he was able to translate those into a career. For those interested in cybersecurity, Matt advises opportunities for self-directed learning including heading down to your basement and building your own lab. Our thanks to Matt for sharing his story with us.

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Encore: Kathleen Booth: Get your foot in the door and prove your worth. [Marketing] Jan 14, 2024

Vice President of Marketing, Kathleen Booth, shares her career path from political science and international development to marketing for a cybersecurity company. Early dreams of acting morphed into goals of making the world a better place. Chief marketer and podcaster Kathleen is doing just that. She shares how proving your worth can lead to success. Listen for Kathleen's advice on getting your foot in the door. Our thanks to Kathleen for sharing her story with us.

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Encore:Johannes Ullrich: Superhero origin stories and lessons that last. [Education] Jan 07, 2024

Dean of Research, Johannes Ullrich, relays his experiences from studying the hard sciences to his career shift to cybersecurity. Basic principles, superhero origin stories, physics labs and radiation all figure in. And there’s a lot in common with network security best practices. Have a listen to what Johannes has learned and what he hopes to impart on his students. Our thanks to Johannes for sharing his story with us.

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Encore: Tom Quinn: The mark of making a difference. [CISO] Dec 31, 2023

Financial firm CISO, Tom Quinn, takes us from his first experience with modern computers in the military to his current role as a Chief Information Security Officer. It's important to understand how the technology works, but it's also important to understand how people work. And, to make a difference. Our thanks to Tom for sharing his story with us.

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Oren Koren: Crossing music and cybersecurity. Dec 17, 2023

Oren Koren, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer from Veriti sits down to share his amazing story. Before entering the vendor side of the cyber world, Oren served for 14 years in the Israeli 8200 unit where he led a variety of cybersecurity activities and researches that eventually earned him four 8200-unit cyber innovation awards. When he left the Israel Defense Forces, he joined Check Point Software to lead their AI-based innovations and advanced data analytics projects that redefined threat hunting and SIEM applications. This eventually inspired him to start his own company, with fellow co-founder Adi Ikan. Oren shares that he had a love for music growing up, and wanted to be a musician, saying music was the catalyst to him becoming interested in the cyber field, saying "I believe the music helped me a bit with my career in cybersecurity." We thank Oren for sharing his story with us.

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Encore: Tracy Maleeff: Ask more people to dance. [Analyst] Dec 10, 2023

Cyber analyst, Tracy Maleeff, shares her unexpected journey from the library to cybersecurity and offers advice for those both seeking to make a change and those doing the hiring. It's not just about the invitation, it's more than that. Our thanks to Tracy for sharing her story with us.

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Bernard Brantley: Tomorrow is a new day. [CISO] Dec 03, 2023

Bernard Brantley, CISO from Corelight sits down to share his inspiring career path with others. Bernard started at the very bottom of the tech stack, and shares how he was extremely unclear about what it was that he wanted to do in life and how he was going to get there. Ultimately he reached a point now where he has the self confidence and an incredible level of success that allows him to be authentic and proudly share his story. Bernard overcame dropping out of the military academy and was trying to figure out how he could take these big dreams and aspirations he had as a child and turn them into something fruitful as an adult. Working his way up from the bottom he is now sharing how he overcomes those days of adversity, saying "I spend minimum time trying to like spin my wheels or, kind of stay in frustration or a down period and, and really, uh, try as quickly as possible to move from, "hey, this was a tough day" to, to, into, "all right, uh, this was a tough day because maybe I didn't commit enough time in this area, or maybe I could have had a bit better conversation with this person." We thank Bernard for sharing his story with us.

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Chris Hare: Find just three people. [Development] Nov 26, 2023

This week, we invite our very own Chris Hare, N2K's Project Management Specialist Content Developer, to join and discuss her career. Growing up, Chris shares that she wanted to be a veterinarian, which slowly turned into her becoming a writer for the first part of her career. She shares that she started off writing marketing copy for the technology and E-commerce space, writing for everyone from NASA to adopting the written voice of the comedian, Wayne Brady. She shares that she was able to come up into her career after finding three people that were willing to help her when she needed it. She says "I became what I like to think of as a Pied Piper of seeking out three types of people. First, someone who needed help. Second, a person who served as a mechanism for my self improvement through my jealousy of them. And third, a person who gave me the nudge to continuously improve." We thank Chris for sharing her story with us.

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Ian Blumenfeld: Swimming in a pool of cyber. [Research] Nov 19, 2023

Ian Blumenfeld, a Research Director from Two Six Technologies sits down to share his story with us. Ian begins his story by sharing he wanted to be a scientist, slowly he began to figure out and pinpoint more of what he liked about science, which ended up being math. Ian explains how math began to become a passion for him, and he eventually tried to pursue a career in it by teaching. He discovered teaching was not the thing for him and then started to move into the direction he wanted too, taking on more and more challenging roles until he landed where he is today. Ian says "If you're a smart person and you have skills in coding, you can swim. So it's okay to jump. It's okay to jump into the lake, you can swim. Something will get you out. You will have, you will be able to find a job. So, if you see something that looks cool, if you see something that advances you to the next stage of your career, if you have to take a little bit of a risk, it's okay." Ian wants to be someone who helped make the world a little better when it comes to code and wants to shares his desires and passions with the community. We thank Ian for sharing his story with us.

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Grace Cassy: Actions speak louder than words. [Associate Fellow] Nov 12, 2023

Grace Cassy, and Associate Fellow from Ten Eleven Ventures sits down to share her career path, getting her to where she is now. Grace spent 10 years in the UK Diplomatic Service, working on global security policy in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Earlier in her career she was an advisor to Prime Minister Tony Blair, specializing in Asia and national security. She also co-founded Epsilon Advisory Partners, a strategy and growth firm working with world-leading global technology companies and investors. Now she is a Co-founder at CyLon and is an Early Stage Investor in cybersecurity companies. She says "I think we probably don't need too many more words, but we definitely need a bit more action." We thank Grace for sharing her story with us.

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Jeffrey Wheatman: Sometimes you just need to open the raincoat. Nov 05, 2023

Jeffrey Wheatman, Cyber Risk Evangelist, from Black Kite joins to share his amazing story. As a strategic thought leader with extensive expertise in cybersecurity, Jeffrey Wheatman is regarded foremost as an expert in guiding public sector clients and Fortune 500 companies in connection with their cyber risk management programs. In his current role as Cyber Risk Evangelist at Black Kite, Jeffrey works to get the message out about the business impact of third-party risk and solutions to treat those risks. Jeffrey shared his career, along with is passion for cyber by explaining some of the roles he did moving up into his role today. He says as a leader we all need to be aware of the fact that "We make mistakes and I I'm a, I'm a big believer in sharing those mistakes and I think it's important to open the raincoat as it were, and let people understand that we're not perfect, we all need help and then that way they feel comfortable coming to you and asking for help" We thank Jeffrey for sharing his story with us.

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Nicole Sundin: Women helping women. [Chief Product Officer] Oct 29, 2023

Nicole Sundin, a Chief Product Officer from Axio sits down to discuss her career path and what it is like to be a woman in the cybersecurity field. As a UX leader, Nicole has devoted her entire career to building awareness around the benefits of usable security and human-centered security to the broader cybersecurity community. She also shares some of her background as she moved her way up the later to get to where she is today. As a female in a male-dominated industry, Nicole shares her unique insights on embracing the responsibility of serving as a role model to women aspiring to contribute to the cybersecurity field, and the importance of building a diverse team. She says "Really, it's about building community in your organization and outside your organization of strong women or strong friends that you have that you can lean on when you know you're the only person in the room." We thank Nicole for sharing her story with us.

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Jennifer Reed: Balance the gender scales. [Principal] Oct 22, 2023

This week, we welcome Jennifer Reed, a Principal Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services (AWS) to sit down and share her amazing story. After Jennifer graduated high school, she immediately went into Marine Corps training, which she shared was a shock to her because she was the only woman when she got out into the fleet and every single place that she went. She eventually moved on from the military after learning some programming tools, and went into the financial services industry doing systems engineering. She got called back to active duty, and then afterwards landed at AWS. She shares that being a woman in this industry can be challenging at time, but she says "I do feel, um, good about the things I've overcome, but I also don't want it to be so hard for the next person, if that makes sense. I don't want them to have to have those same struggles to kind of overcome any perceptions that someone might have due to their their gender or their background." We thank Jennifer for sharing her story with us.

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Susan Hinrichs: The cross between computer science and security. [chief scientist] Oct 15, 2023

Susan Hinrichs, Chief Scientist at Aviatrix sits down to share her story, with over 30 years in experience spanning a variety of networking and security disciplines and has held leadership and academic roles, she sits down to discuss her amazing career. Earlier in her career, Susan served as System Architect at Cisco where she spent nine years designing and developing Centri Firewall and a variety of network security management tools. She worked as a Lecturer, Computer and Network Security for eight years at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) where she developed a hands-on Security Lab introduction course for students in her first year, and later in her tenure, along with two colleagues, created a malware analysis course designed for senior students. With all of the amazing things she's done in her career, she shares the advice to new comers into the field, saying "I think also as you're trying to get that next job either as a student or as a professional trying to change direction a little bit, if you're coming into interviews being able to talk about a project that you worked on, even if it's not a project that really anyone uses, but if it's something that's interesting that you have in depth understanding of, uh, I think is super valuable to get you noticed." We thank Susan for sharing her story with us.

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Suzie Squier: You're never alone. [President] Oct 08, 2023

Suzie Squier, President of the Retail and Hospitality ISAC, or Information Sharing and Analysis Center, sits down to share her incredible story starting to get her into the cyber community. She first started getting into PR through an internship she did in college, then moved around a few times gaining experience everywhere she went. Suzie shares some wise advice, discussing not only her managing style, but also how she handles situations, along with how she deals with adversity. She says "I also have realized over time that I'm never in this alone, whether that's your personal life or your work life and even here, uh, in addition to a great team, all great team." She hopes people will jump in to the world of cyber with an open mind, and though it may be frightening at first, she says you just need to dive in anyway and not be afraid to try new things. We thank Suzie for sharing her story with us.

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Ted Wagner: Get that hands on experience. [CISO] Oct 01, 2023

This week, we are joined by Ted Wagner, Chief Information Security Officer at SAP National Security Services, or SAP NS2. Ted sits down to share his story on how he got introduced into the industry and why he chose this as a career path. He went straight into the Armyas a second lieutenant in the artillery field after high school, which after his time was up he decided to move on and started working for a company that allowed him to do a management training program. After that he found himself working on IT projects which got him interested in the field. Ted shares that one thing that has helped him throughout his career is teaching about very technical terms and turning it into more operational or business like terms for his students at MIT. He shares that people getting into this field should get as much hands on experience as they can, saying "I think those are all things that can really help someone who may not have all the experience, but this is a pathway to, to learn." We thank Ted for sharing his story with us.

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Merritt Baer: No one has to go down for you to go up. [CISO] Sep 24, 2023

This week our guest is Merritt Baer, a Field CISO from Lacework, and a cloud security unicorn, sits down to share her incredible story working through the ranks to get to where she is today. Before working at Lacework Merritt served in the Office of the CISO at Amazon Web Services, as part of a small elite team that formed a Deputy CISO. She provided technical cloud security guidance to AWS’ largest customers, like the Fortune 100, on security as a bottom line proposition. She also has experience in all three branches of government and the private sector and served as Lead Cyber Advisor to the Federal Communications Commission. Merritt shares some amazing advice for up and comers into the field, saying "my personal philosophy is that no one has to go down for you to go up. I'm always encouraging my colleagues, um, and other executives to be thinking about how we can, you know, steal, sharpen, steal, how we can be good for each other, how we can collaborate, how we can, um, create more strengths in one another." We thank Merritt for sharing her story with us.

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Karl Mattson: Remaining operationally focused. (CISO) Sep 17, 2023

Karl Mattson, CISO at Noname Security, joins us to share his story. Having started out as a "military brat," traveling the world as the child of a Marine, Karl later joined the Army not long after high school. In the Army, Karl was assigned the career field of intelligence analyst and started working with the NSA. He says that was a real career break. Following the Army, Karl worked in the financial services world as a CISO. At Noname, Karl began by building out internal risk and IT functions into a strong, what he calls spectacular team. Karl recommends "deferring gratification as long as possible" when building your career. He says, "People early in their career, looking at government service, those positions don't, you know, make anybody rich overnight, but they are amazing career cornerstones to build on." He closes sharing the importance of relationships. We thank Karl for sharing his story with us.

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Caroline Wong: A passion for teaching. [CSO] Sep 10, 2023

Caroline Wong, Chief Strategy Officer from Cobalt sits down to share her story of her 15+ years in cybersecurity leadership, including practitioner, product, and consulting roles. As well as being a member of our very own Hash Table, Caroline also authored the popular textbook, Security Metrics: A Beginner's Guide and teachers cybersecurity courses on LinkedIn Learning as well as hosts the Humans of InfoSec podcast. Caroline's father pushed her to start her career in engineering, she went to UC Berkeley and got accepted into their Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences program. As a college student, she was looking for an internship and found eBay, where she says she worked an entry level position available on the information security team, and says the rest is history. She shares that she loves to teach her peers, and how she would like to be remembered for being a good teacher, saying "I think that my favorite part of the work that I get to do is teaching. Um, and in particular, um, being able to communicate about cybersecurity concepts to a wide audience. I have such tremendous gratitude." We thank Caroline for sharing her story with us.

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Rick Doten: There is a rainbow of different roles in cybersecurity. [VP] Sep 03, 2023

This week's guest is Rick Doten, the VP of Information Security at Centene Corporation, he sits down to share his story and provide wise words of wisdom after conquering this industry for 30 years. Rick, like many others in the field started off not knowing what he wanted to do, so he tried out a few things, including doing in-user training and desktop support, eventually evolving to do systems analysis work and designing software. Rick shares that his main day to day roles are spending time helping out the corporate global CISO, CTO, and head of platform within the organization, he shares that his nickname is the neighborhood cat because he's everywhere. Rick shares advice for people getting into the industry for the first time, saying "There is a rainbow of different roles in cyber security, and I feel like I've done all of them in the last 30 years. So there are different things that, that you, the thing that like appeal to you the most because you're going to excel and want to hyper focus on the thing that you really, really are interested in and not the thing that you're not" We thank Rick for sharing his story with us.

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Dina Haines: Keep the boat afloat. [Partnership manager] Aug 27, 2023

This week, we welcome Dina Haines, an Industry Partnership Manager with the National Security Agency's Cybersecurity Collaboration Center. Dina found from a young age, she was always interested in the field, taking after her father who worked in the space industry, paving the way for her to fall in love with the field. She worked in the private sector for a bit, moving around every now and again, eventually landing the position she works now. Dina says her day to day job is helping the NSA to bend and protect cyberspace by bringing in private industry. She says "I try to spend a lot of time listening and seeing where people, where they're coming from, where they're at, you know, potentially in their career, where they're at in their job that day, and then try to, um, support them and bring them up and, and float the entire boat." We thank Dina for sharing her story with us.

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Luke Vander Linden: With age comes knowledge. [VP] Aug 20, 2023

This week, our guest is Luke Vander Linden, Vice President of Membership & Marketing from RH-ISAC and host of the RH-ISAC podcast here at the CyberWire. Luke sits down to share his story all the way back to when he was a very young age where he was a child model and actor to where he is now working in the cyber industry. Luke fell into the marketing field after his time as a child actor, where he really started to find his passion. After finding his passion, he decided to branch out to different areas in the field, working in public libraries and advocacy groups, this is where he started to really enjoy the prospect of working with individuals who support organizations, which got him started in the RH-ISAC world. Luke shares that he wears many hats these days, working in the podcast business while also working on the leadership team at RH-ISAC. His advice for people getting into this industry is "I think with age comes this knowledge, but also with experiences. So, I mean, to that point, don't be afraid to go out there and fail, give it a shot." We thank Luke for sharing his story with us.

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Dr. Georgianna Shea: Don't wait to take the initiative. [Technologist] Aug 13, 2023

Dr. Georgianna Shea, the Chief Technologist at the Transformative Cyber Innovation Lab at the Foundations for Defensive Democracies (FDD) sits down to share her incredible story, moving around to different roles and how that has lead her to where she is today. Her careers have taken her to many different states throughout the years, as she has learned and grew into the roles she took on, from Hawaii to D.C., Dr. Shea has done it all. Sharing some advice, Dr. Shea says "My words of wisdom are take advantage of every opportunity and don't wait for anybody. I try to mentor people and I talk to young people a lot, you know, trying to get into the field and, and I see a lot of waiting on other people." She explains that you are able to work on your own to become an expert, and taking that initiative will be the thing to get you to where you want to be. We thank Dr. Georgianna Shea for sharing her story with us.

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Manuel Hepfer: Discipline, self motivation, and steam. [Research] Aug 06, 2023

Manuel Hepfer a cybersecurity researcher from ISTARI sits down to share his story with us. Manuel shares as a kid he was very interested in STEM, and in school he remembered a programming class that he fell in love which made him want to pursue a career in cyber. Studying at the University of Oxford he began working towards acquiring a degree in Cybersecurity and Strategic Management. He found research to be a passion and wanted to share his passion, he decided he wanted to publish, so Manuel published an article in MIT Sloan management review that's titled "Make Cybersecurity a Strategic Asset." He shares that finding a passion, like he did, is the key to working in cyber, saying "I think what I learned at the time is the value of discipline and self motivation. And now you can always come up with a lot of discipline and self motivation, but you'll run out of steam at some point if you're not very passionate about some of the things that you're doing." We thank Manuel for sharing his story with us.

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Morgan Adamski: Seeing around corners. [Collaboration] Jul 30, 2023

Morgan Adamski from the National Security Agency (NSA) sits down to talk about her path to getting into cybersecurity. Remembering back to when she was a kid, she recalls using old technology to chat with friends online, that's where it all began for Morgan. She shares how in high school she fell in love with the concept of debating and being on a team. During her high school career, 9/11 occurred, and she became fascinated with who was behind the biggest attack America had seen in the 21st century, driving her to pursue a degree in National Security. Coming out of college, she was able to get a job in the DIA, after working there for two years, she found herself at the NSA, where she is now. Morgan shares how her leadership style helps her to not only connect dots on problems, but also see around corners, saying "it's not just about connecting the dots, it's about seeing around the corners and so that helps me better predict, um, how do I build an organization that's successful three to five years down the road." We thank Morgan for sharing her story with us.

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Don Welch: Being a good leader. [CIO] Jul 23, 2023

Don Welch, Chief Information Officer from New York University sits down to share his exciting start into his cyber career. Much like many other people who started in this industry, Don went into the military, which is where it all started for him. He was told he needed to take two specialties, and so along with mechanical engineering, he decided to go into computer science as well. After taking his two crafts, he decided to leave the Army and go into the civilian world where he took a couple jobs in cyber. He landed a few jobs at different prestigious universities, including Penn State University, University of Michigan, and now New York University. He shares that being a good leader will take you far in life, saying "I will say that if you are a great leader, ultimately, you sit in your office and do nothing because you have developed your team and empowered them, and they're making all the decisions, everything runs like clockwork and you have nothing to do." We thank Don for sharing is story with us.

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Jennifer Addie: Finding creative solutions. [COO] Jul 16, 2023

Jennifer Addie, COO and CWO from VentureScope and MACH37 Cyber Accelerator sits down to share her incredible story, bringing creativity into the cyber community. Growing up Jennifer always loved the human side of things, and learning that she had a knack for computers helped her to realize what type of field she wanted to pursue as an adult. She started working jobs dealing in programming, database administration, product development, and it was there in the design of those products where she felt the deep need for security, emerging as critical in her consciousness. She shares how she likes to be on a personal level with the people she works with, always wondering where people came from and why they are passionate, being a very interactive leader. Jennifer also says that she believes bringing creativity into the field is what helps her solve any form of problem the best stating "I absolutely agree with the idea that, that creativity is far more than artistic capability. It is very much centered on problem solving and in fact, the master's degree that I received in creativity focuses on creative problem solving as a process." We thank Jennifer for sharing her story with us.

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Eric Tillman: A creative way into cyber. [Intelligence] Jul 09, 2023

Eric Tillman, Chief Intelligence Officer at N2K Networks sits down and shares his incredibly creative journey. Eric loved being creative from a young age. When he started to think about a career he wanted to incorporate his love of creativity into his love for tech and turn it into an intelligence career. Eric started by joining the Navy, which set him on this path to work in cyber where he shared his talents with several big companies, including, Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed Martin, and Okta, eventually ending up at our very own N2K Networks. Eric shares the advice that there is something for everyone in this field, and even though he wanted to start his journey in a creative way, he found that combining his love for tech and art helped him to pave the way to where he is now. He says " A lot of people get here from a very technical background and um, it really almost doesn't matter um, where you came from, there is something in cybersecurity that takes advantage of the skills that you bring to the table and, um, either way, there's plenty of room here for everyone." We thank Eric for sharing his story with us.

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Liji Samuel: Leaping beyond the barrier. [Certification] Jul 02, 2023

Liji Samuel from NSA sits down to share her exciting career path through the years until she found a job working for as Chief of Standards and Certification at NSA's Cyber Collaboration Center. She starts by sharing that she had always wanted to work in the STEM field, explaining that growing up she was surrounded with older cousins who were choosing STEM careers and it became an interesting topic for her. She accounts working for a number of companies that helped her grow into the role she is in now. Cybersecurity became a big buzzword for her, causing her to step out of the agency into US cyber command to help take up a management position for the architecture and engineering division. From there, she continued her cybersecurity journey first as the exploration director before moving into where she is now. Liji shares that there were barriers along the way that she had to endure and hop over to get to the right path. She says "So there are challenges and barriers that come across constantly with our work. Um, one just has to pause and reflect on how we can work with it, around it, or influence like our stakeholders and jointly create a vision around it." We thank Liji for sharing her story with us.

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Slavik Markovich: Time is of the essence. [CEO] Jun 25, 2023

Slavik Markovich, CEO of Descope joins Dave to discuss his career as a serial entrepreneur. Before Descope, he co-founded and was the CEO of Demisto, a leader in the SOAR industry, which was acquired by Palo Alto Networks in 2019 for $560M, where he then served as SVP of Products. Before co-founding Demisto, Slavik was VP & CTO of database technologies at McAfee. He joined McAfee via the acquisition of Sentrigo, a database security startup he co-founded and served as CTO for. He goes into depth of his career changes throughout the years and how that has helped lead him to where he is now in his career. He shares that as a CEO and found of multiple companies he values time and hard workers. He says " I think we really stress the importance of, uh, of responsibility. So if, if you kinda take something, you, you make sure to finish it and on time, if you promise to do something, you do that. And so that's really important for us." We thank Slavik for sharing his story with us.

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Lorna Mahlock: Build bridges. [Combat support] Jun 18, 2023

Major General Lorna Mahlock, Deputy Director for Combat Support from the National Security Agency (NSA) sits down with Dave to discuss her long and impressive career leading up to her working for one of the most prestigious security agencies. Originally born in Kingston, Jamaica, Lorna immigrated to Brooklyn, New York and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps as a field radio operator. She shares how eye opening the military was for her, moving through ranks, and eventually landing into working at the Pentagon for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff. She moved around widening her array of paths, landing in her current role. Lorna shares some wisdom, mentioning how she likes to talk about ladders and how useful creating ladders in life can be, she says "I think about ladders in terms of horizontal component, in that you can create bridges, right? And, um, ways over obstacles, uh, for, for not only, uh, for yourself, but for others and an entire organization." We thank Lorna for sharing her story with us.

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Nadir Izrael: Play to your strengths. [CTO] Jun 11, 2023

Nadir Izrael, co-founder and CTO from Armis, sits down to share his story. Nadir started his love of cyber when he became a software developer at the age of 12. He always had a passion for making things work better and asking questions. Once he joined the 8200 unit in Israel, he was able to focus his interests on physics, which led him to making the discovery of wanting to start his own business. After he started building his company is when he learned to take smart and innovative risks at work and making it a way of life. Nadir shares advice, saying "Playing to your strengths, maximizes the odds of success and every other consideration lowers them inevitably, or at least, uh, um, kind of shrinks, I guess the, the probability space for success." He thinks playing to ones strengths is the best a leader can do to create the most success for their team. We thank Nadir for sharing his story with us.

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Galit Lubetzky Sharon: Doing your chores brings the best out in you. [CTO] Jun 04, 2023

Galit Lubetzky Sharon, Co-Founder and CTO of Wing Security sits down to share her story and how years in the business lead her to be where she is now. Galit shares her insights from her experiences co-founding her company and bringing it out of stealth mode in early 2022, including why she saw the need for Wing Security and what lessons she learned in the process of founding and launching the company. She started her career as a Colonel in the 8200 Unit gives her a unique perspective on the cyber industry. Galit also shares what she does when things get stressful to help calm her down in the moment and help her clear her head. She says "I think it's very important to do things that you love. It should be something that you come and you bring yourself and your passion and, uh, finding yourself the occupation, the chores, the, the tasks that you love to do brings the, the best out of you." We thank Galit for sharing her story with us.

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Stacy Dunn: My superpower and my kryptonite. [Engineer] May 28, 2023

Stacy Dunn, a Senior Solutions Engineer from the SANS Institute sits down and shares what it is like to work through her own adversity to get to be where she is today. Stacy shares some of her experiences as a woman with ADHD working in an IT career and explains her tips for other neurodiverse people in the field. After working in a wide array of positions in different fields, she wanted to go back to school to get her degree in management information systems and information assurance. Eventually she started working her way up the ladder, and became a very successful woman in the IT world. She shares her struggles with ADHD as she was making the climb and says "It's both a superpower and kryptonite because I think something that is a fundamental misunderstanding of most people, and maybe even some people that do have ADHD, is that it's not just the aspect of not being able to focus, it's also an aspect of focusing too much." We thank Stacy for sharing her story with us.

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Dawn Cappelli: Becoming the cyber fairy godmother. [OT] May 21, 2023

Dawn Cappelli, OT CERT Director at Dragos, sits down to share what she has learned after her 25+ year career in the industry. She recalls wanting to have been a rockstar when she grew up, now she refers to herself as the fairy godmother of security. She shares some of the amazing things she got to work on throughout her career, including working with the Secret Service when the Olympics came to Salt Lake City, Utah in 2002. She shares how she was able to rise through the ranks to get to where she is now. Dawn talks about how she wasn't ready to retire quite yet because she loved the industry so much, saying "I retired, but I knew I still loved security. I have this passion for protection and so Dragos came along and they offered me this role of Director of OT CERT. I feel like I'm the security fairy godmother." She shares words of wisdom for all trying to get into the industry, saying that you need to always take the risk like she did when she first started her career. We thank Dawn for sharing her story with us.

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Steve Benton: Mixing like a DJ. [VP] May 14, 2023

Steve Benton, Vice President at Anomali Threat Research & GM Belfast, sits down to share his story as a cybersecurity expert with a surplus of strategic leadership experience across cyber and physical security rooted in substantial operational directorship and accountability. Steve shares his beginnings, where he wanted to grow up to be a rockstar, slowly moving into the world of tech with his first ever computer and falling in love with it. After graduating from Queens University with a degree in information technology, he joined British Telecommunications or BT, where he got to put his new found skills to use. Steve mentions how his job is kind of like being a DJ almost and says " a typical day for me is looking at the intelligence that we're bringing in, mixing it as it were to think of a slight, like DJs with a set of headphones on creating the right kind of mixes of intelligence for our clients." We thank Steve for sharing his story with us.

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Shelley Ma: The mystery behind cybersecurity. [Response Lead] May 07, 2023

Shelley Ma, Incident Response Lead at Coalition sits down to share her story, starting all the way back when she was a kid and fell in love with playing the game "Neopets" that ended up paving the way for her future in cybersecurity. After starting this journey, she shares how she became intrigued with crime and mystery shows, which ultimately spawned an interest in forensic science. She ended up signing up for an internship program that she was able to get into, which she says was a pivotal change for her that provided her the chance to begin her career. She shares the advice that if anyone is looking to get into this career, she highly recommends looking into the career before beginning. Following some advise given to her by a professor and mentor, she says that telling the truth helps her deal with adversity in the workplace. Shelley says "In our industry, there are so many opportunities for our opinions and testimonies to be coerced and swayed. I refuse to do that and every time I come back to what my professor said, if you don't want to spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulders, just simply tell the truth." We thank Shelley for sharing her story with us.

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Perry Carpenter: Turning composition into computing. [Strategy] Apr 30, 2023

Perry Carpenter, Chief Evangelist and Strategy Officer at KnowBe4 and host of the 8th Layer Insights podcast, sits down to share his story trying different paths, before ultimately switching over to the cyber industry. After trying to go down the paths of music and law and finding neither were what he wanted to do, he decided to take an internship to get more into computer programming. That led him to getting his first job. After his first job, he moved onto other big name companies like Walmart, Alltel, and Gartner, and landing finally with KnowBe4. He compares his work to working with music, when he initially wanted to begin making music early in his career. He says "I think for me, when it was the kind of the connection between music and computing is that whenever you're kind of joining things together or at a, a musical scale to make chords, or whenever you're adding different, um, instruments and octaves together or timbers together to get some kind of bigger result." We thank Perry for sharing his story.

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Maria Varmazis: Combining cyber and space. [Space] Apr 23, 2023

Maria Varmazis, N2K's Space Correspondent and host of N2K's newest podcast T-Minus, sits down to share her journey on combining her two passions of space and cyber. Maria grew up wanting to be an astronomer, in school she focused on joining anything with technology and enjoyed the classes that made her think. After transferring to a new college, she went into journalism, absolutely falling in love with the new career path she had made for herself. She got herself a job at Sophos and that's where she learned about cybersecurity. Now she discusses cyber and space in her new podcast, combining her two passions into one for all to understand. Maria discusses some of the setbacks she overcame in this industry and shares the wise advice of "I would never pretend that failure isn't painful, but it is an incredible teaching tool. So if you feel like you've had a huge career fail or a really big misstep, you can still pivot from that and you can make that into something." We thank Maria for sharing her story with us.

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Jack Chapman: Shielding against the bad guys. [Threat Intelligence] Apr 16, 2023

Jack Chapman, VP of Threat Intelligence at Egress sits down to share his story on how he found his way into the cybersecurity field as well as his journey creating a cybersecurity company that was successfully acquired. Jack previously co-founded anti-phishing company Aquilai and served as its Chief Technology Officer, working closely with the UK’s intelligence and cyber agency GCHQ to develop cutting-edge product capabilities. Aquilai was acquired by Egress in 2021. Now he is working with Egress as what he calls their "chief bad guy," helping to shield his team from threats. He says "I'm probably what you call a servant leader, my mission is to enable and shield my teams from things that will prevent them from succeeding in their missions, whatever that might look like." Jack hopes to be remembered for making a meaningful impact to help drive the field forward. We thank Jack for sharing his story with us.

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Karen Worstell: Keep your feet planted. [Strategy] Apr 09, 2023

Karen Worstell, Senior Cybersecurity Strategist from VMware, sits down to share her journey and discuss her experience as a woman in cyber. Starting her career off as a chemist, she graduated with bachelor's degrees in chemistry and molecular biology. She then took some time off to be with her family and came back to a science field that was far more advanced than before she had left. She decided to go in another direction, which led her to cyber. She started teaching herself programming and found she was very good at it. Now that she works in cyber, she says "You, you have to know yourself, know what you want, and know where you're, know where you plant your feet. I used to use a phrase a lot that said, uh, don't be afraid to take a stand but know where your feet are planted." We thank Karen for sharing her story with us.

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Alon Jackson: Sometimes you feel like an octopus. [CEO] Apr 02, 2023

Alon Jackson, chief executive and Co-founder of Astrix Security, sits down to share his story to rising success. Before being on the vendor side of things, Jackson served in various strategic roles in the Cyber Security Division of the Israeli Military Intel Unit 8200 for more than 8 years, including leading the Cloud Security division and serving as the Head of the Cyber Security R&D Department. His experience in the military inspired him to learn more about the industry and jump to the private sector. Fast forward years later, he co-founded his company to help address security gaps seen in the industry. He mentions how being a start up CEO can be difficult sometimes, and how it may feel as though you're an octopus with all the multitasking that comes with the job. Alon says that one of his main goals as a contributor in this industry is making sure people remember him and his company for years to come, saying he wants to help by " building a company that people kind of know about, remember, and is important in the world." We thank Alon for sharing his story with us.

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Tanya Janca: Find a community who supports you. [CEO] Mar 26, 2023

Tanya Janca, CEO and Founder of We Hack Purple, sits down to talk about her exciting path into the field of cybersecurity. Trying several different paths in high school, she soon found she was good at computer science. When it came to picking a college, she knew that was the field she wanted to get into. After college, she was able to use her skills to work at a couple of different organizations, eventually getting into the Canadian government. While there, she held the position of CISO for the Canadian election in 2015 when Justin Trudeau was elected, but she knew she wanted to try something new. She switched from programming to security and after working at Microsoft as a presenter, she eventually found that she wanted to start her own company, saying "at first it was just me presenting, but now we have community members present to each other and it's just been really beautiful to see that grow." She hopes that with her and her community's help, nobody is left feeling unsafe when it comes to being online.

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Kathleen Smith: Translating the cyber world. [CMO] Mar 19, 2023

Kathleen Smith, CMO from ClearedJobs.Net, sits down to share her story as she remembers having big shoes to fill in her childhood. She strived for greatness at an early age, as her parents told her she would be going to college and would follow strong guidelines to become successful. Kathleen can remember being into the hard sciences when she was in school, which sparked an interest in becoming a biochemist and law student. Eventually she found her passion as a translator, saying that "doing the translator role, I wanted to get into international marketing and I was going on to get my degree on that." She found her way to ClearedJobs.Net and fell in love with it. She had sought to find a workplace that wouldn't burn her out, where she can also be a part of the team. Kathleen found what she was passionate about and made it a reality for herself, and now she just wants young women starting in the field to know the importance of finding something they are passionate about. We thank Kathleen for sharing her story.

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Bat El Azerad: Find your niche to bring to the table. [CEO] Mar 12, 2023

Bat El Azerad, CEO and Co-founder of mobile phishing protection company novoShield, shares her personal account of her experience as a female leader in the cybersecurity field as well as some insights into how far the industry has come and where it is headed in terms of the gender gap. Bat El speaks about how she grew into her role of becoming a CEO, by sharing where she started and how she got involved with novoShield. She share's that being a woman in this industry can be tough and so she shares some advice, saying "so you have to be very focused and to find the right niche to bring something to the table because the competition in this industry and the level of innovation, um, is, is great." Bat El hopes that throughout her time in the industry she hopes people remember her for her vision, and the mission she is helping to create and maintain at her company. We thank Bat El for sharing her story.

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Gabriela Smith-Sherman: Thriving in the chaos. [Cyber governance] Mar 05, 2023

Gabriela Smith-Sherman, Director of the Governance Risk and Compliance Department at MindPoint Group, sits down to share her journey. A former federal agency CISO with over 15 years of experience in leading and implementing comprehensive enterprise cybersecurity programs and initiatives, she is also a disabled US combat veteran who understands the importance of mission and is dedicated to delivering high-quality results and value to customers through innovative solutions. Gabriela shares about her time in the military and how being part of the service was one of her best decisions, dedicating all her hard work to her time in the armed forces. She also explains how it was tough falling away from military routine, and the difficulties behind her transition to civilian, but notes that she thrives in the chaos of the IT world, saying "I think my military experience has prepared me, uh, to be in those kind of chaotic positions and be very calm about the approach." We thank Gabriela for sharing her story with us.

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Mike Fey: Highs are high and lows are low. [CEO] Feb 26, 2023

Mike Fey, CEO and co-founder of Island.io, joins to share his story, falling in love with technology and being fascinated by it at a young age. Mike quickly started working for companies where he grew in his role, becoming CTO of McAfee and then GM of the Enterprise business, stepping out to then become president and COO of Blue Coat, which was eventually acquired by Symantec, eventually wanting to get into his own business. He shares that being a small business owner is a lot of hard work and very tiring at times, he says "especially in a startup, the highs are very high and the lows are very low." Mike also mentions how easy it is to get knocked down when being in charge of your own business, but that teamwork is what helps to bring him back up. Mike says he wants to eventually help change the world and hopefully his legacy will help him to do that some day. We thank Mike for sharing his story with us.

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Rachel Tobac: Find a way to laugh. [CEO] Feb 19, 2023

Rachel Tobac, CEO from SocialProof Security sits down to share her amazing story on becoming what's known in the industry as an ethical hacker and CEO of a company. Rachel shares how she was always fascinated with spy movies and as she grew older that fascination turned into a real desire. Finding out she liked learning how the human brain works, she decided to start off in neuroscience. Wanting a change and with the help of her husband she was able to start getting more into hacking, finding she loved the fact that she was pretending to be someone to hack into a company and finding the weak spots. She shares how as a leader now she likes to be authentic with her team. She says "I think in the security world sometimes we take ourselves pretty seriously and a lot of times it's because we're dealing with really serious topics, and so in the moment we have to be extremely serious, but when you get a five minute break in between your crisis meetings, find a way to laugh if you can." We thank Rachel for sharing her story with us.

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Jaden Dicks: It is never too early to start. [CyberVista intern] Feb 12, 2023

Jaden Dicks, a new intern at CyberVista, a company that merged with CyberWire to become N2K Networks, shares his story as a young man growing up trying to get into the cyber community. From a very young age, Jaden hoped to become part of the cybersecurity field, He recalls growing up constantly being surrounded by technology, and now with the help of Urban Alliance, Jaden was able to secure this internship with CyberVista. Urban Alliance is a nonprofit that connects young adults with paid work experiences, such as internships to help them bridge the gaps between education and the workforce. Jaden hopes that this internship will help him further advance his career and help him to pursue his goals of working in cyber. He also shares advice to younger people like him who are looking to branch out and start working toward your goals, even as a teenager, and what has helped him to find his rhythm. We thank Jaden for sharing his story with us.

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Yasmin Abdi: Find your community. [Security Engineer] Feb 05, 2023

Yasmin Abdi, a Security Engineering Manager at Snapchat and the CEO and Founder of NoHack, sits down to share her story on how she got to be in her amazing current roles. From a young age, Yasmin was fascinated by the overlap of cybersecurity and crime and law. In her time in college, she was able to intern at big tech companies like Snapchat, Google, and Facebook. She decided to stick with Snapchat, which had the security aspect and security composure that she wanted. In her role at Snapchat, she gets to work with her team to help take down all kinds of bad content and keep up the platform’s integrity, and found she fell in love with the work along the way. Yasmin shares the sage advice to grow your community as much as you can, saying to"form a community of like-minded people. People that you can bounce ideas off of, people that can help support you when times are low. Find mentors, find people that you aspire to be like, and really find that community of people." We thank Yasmin for sharing her story.

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Charlie Moore: Pilot to head honcho in cyber. [Cyber Command] Jan 29, 2023

Our guest, Charlie Moore, is a recently retired USAF Lieutenant General who sits down to share his story from flying high in the air to becoming a bigwig in the cyber community. He was most recently the Deputy Commander of the United States Cyber Command, and also spent part of his career as a human factors engineer working on human interfaces for fighter aircraft. When he first began his Air Force career, he was a member of the last class entering into the Academy that was not issued desktop computers. Charlie discusses how this changed as the year went on and how that impacted his career both in and out of the military. Charlie worked for different companies over the years to further his career and his goals, and discusses how his flying career has helped him and says, "I was extremely passionate about the flying aspect of my career for 25 years and I became even more passionate about operating in this space." We thank Charlie for sharing his story with us.

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Miriam Wugmeister: Technology's not as complicated as you think. [Data Security] Jan 22, 2023

Miriam Wugmeister, co-chair of Morrison & Foerster’s Privacy and Data Security practice, sits down to share her in-depth experience and understanding of privacy and data security laws, obligations, and practices across a wide range of industries. She talks about how she grew up not knowing exactly what she wanted to get into as a profession, starting off as a chemical engineering major in college before switching to philosophy. She then got asked to work on a project relating to a company’s privacy and fell in love with the subject matter, deciding then to pursue it as a career. Miriam mentions how technology is not as complicated as tech people might have you think. She hopes she can advertise a tech degree for young women and men looking to get into the field, as well as making sure she "encourages women and diverse lawyers to, uh, come into this area to thrive." We thank Miriam for sharing her story with us.

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Gene Fay: Lead from the front. [CEO] Jan 15, 2023

Gene Fay, CEO of ThreatX sits down to share his experience rising through the ranks to get to where he is today. He shares how even at a young age he wanted to work in an office and become a businessman, though at the time he did not understand what that entailed. After college he acquired a job that was revolutionizing video editing for post-production studios as well as TV stations, where he started to really learn about technology. Gene talks about leading from the front and how a good leader will always do so, even if he has to lead from two different fronts. He said "it's kind of the two fronts, sometimes you've gotta put on the leadership face, and believe it, that, that you can get, and we can get through any situation, cuz sometimes you're, your gut feelings are, might be wrong and, or it's a moment in time and if you can help the team grind through that situation, it does get better." We thank Gene for sharing his story with us.

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Teresa Rothaar: Outwork the competition. [Analyst] Jan 08, 2023

Teresa Rothaar, a governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) analyst at Keeper Security sits down to share her story, from performer to cyber. She fell in love with writing as a young girl, she experimented with writing fanfiction which made her want to grow up to be in the arts. After attending college she found that she was good at math, lighting the way for her to start her cyber career. Teresa moved to being a writer at Keeper, finding she wanted to spread out and try more, so she ended up becoming an analyst while still doing writing on the side. She quotes David Duchovny in an interview once, explaining how sometimes you need to keep your head down and outwork others. Teresa said this resonated with her, saying, "that's how I went from a foreclosure box on the porch to where I am now. I have a good job and, and I have a career and I have a really good career and I absolutely love it." We thank Teresa for sharing her story.

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Encore: Simone Petrella: Fake it, until you make it. [CEO] Jan 01, 2023

Simone Petrella, CEO of cybersecurity training workforce firm CyberVista, spent her career in the Department of Defense as a threat intelligence analyst before founding CyberVista. She says that running a company has a new set of challenges each day thrown at you. She explains that the way she finds the most success is by letting her team contribute to each matter, and having a say in the decisions made as they pertain to each department. Simone says "I would say is I am a firm firm believer in the idea of empowering people to really own and kind of run with the things that they're passionate about." She notes that people will do amazing things when they are passionate and that faking it until you make it is true, because you will get where you're going by having that passion and that inspiration. We thank Simone for sharing her story.

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Encore: Michael DeBolt: From acting to cyber. [Intelligence] Dec 25, 2022

Chief intelligence officer at Intel 471, Michael shares his story where he started as an actor and quickly changed over to intelligence and what the transition was like for him. Michael grew up wanting to be an actor and even was able to land some acting jobs, after going into the Marine Corps he decided to leave acting behind and start a new path in his journey. He says looking for a purpose really helped to shape him, saying "looking back on it, I feel like my life purpose has really been all about kind of this relentless pursuit of justice" and how the risks in his life has helped to right the wrongs of the world. We thank Michael for sharing his story.

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Don Pezet: Stepping stones are the start of your career. [CTO] Dec 18, 2022

Don Pezet, CTO of ACI Learning, sits down to share his over 25 years of experience in the industry. Don previously spent time as a field engineer in the financial and insurance industries supporting networks around the world. He co-founded ITProTV in 2012 to help create the IT training that he wished he had when he got started in his IT career. He also shares insights for anyone else wishing to pursue IT, no matter their age or past experience. Don explains how important stepping stones are as you get into this field, stating "know that that first job you get is probably not going to be the job you want to have your whole life, but it's a stepping stone that leads to where you want to get." Don started teaching on the side as well as working in the IT field and explains how much his teaching skills come in handy to help him with his leadership skills, which in turn helps him to be a better CTO, helping his customers. We thank Don for sharing his story.

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Jameeka Aaron: Sometimes you just have to follow two paths. [CISO] Dec 11, 2022

Jameeka Aaron, Chief Information Security Officer at Auth0, a product unit of Okta, sits down to share her story following two different paths that led her to where she is today. Jameeka has 20 years of IT and cybersecurity experience and has mitigated security risks at Nike, the U.S. Navy, and now Auth0. She joined the Navy not knowing what she wanted to do after high school and ended up becoming a Radioman, which is now titled IT. She shares her experiences of challenges she faced being the youngest, and the only woman, and the only woman of color in her group. She followed two different paths, getting an education as well as being in the Navy, and started her career at Lockheed Martin Mission Systems in San Diego. She eventually found her way to Auth0 in 2018. She says "I realized cybersecurity folks can do anything, everywhere. We're everywhere, we're in every industry and so I started to kind of say, I wanna work on programs that are fun for me." We thank Jameeka for sharing her story.

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Rohit Dhamankar: Never close doors prematurely. [Vice President] Dec 04, 2022

Rohit Dhamankar from Fortra’s Alert Logic sits down with Dave Bittner to share his experiences as he navigates the industry. Rohit has over 15 years of security industry experience across product strategy, threat research, product management and development, and customer solutions. Before Alert Logic he served in Product roles for Live Oak Venture Capital at Infocyte and Razberi Technologies. He has previously worked in senior roles in several start-up companies in security analytics, intrusion detection/prevention, end-point protection, and security risk and compliance, including VP, Click Labs Solutions at Click Security, acquired by AlertLogic, and he was a Co-Founder of Jumpshot, acquired by Avast. Rohit shares the advice of never closing a door too prematurely, because you never know what could be behind the door waiting for you. We thank Rohit for sharing his story.

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Laura Whitt-Winyard: Securing the world. [CISO] Nov 27, 2022

Laura Whitt-Winyard, CISO from Malwarebytes, sits down to share her story, beginning with a desire to be a pediatric oncologist that she later discovered was not the path for her. Laura was bouncing around from job to job until she bought her first computer, and a light bulb went off in her head. She set out to make it her goal to learn about this new, interesting field and grow within it. Now as a successful CISO, she wants to make the world more secure and goes from company to company to complete her goal. She considers herself a servant leader whose goal is the greater good. She compares her role to football, explaining that she is not the quarterback, but the center for the team. She believes she is the center that paves the path for the quarterbacks on her team to reduce the noise, to give the quarterback all the tools that they need to do their jobs and do their jobs well. We thank Laura for sharing her story.

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Omer Singer: The offense and the defense of cybersecurity. [Strategy] Nov 20, 2022

Omer Singer, Lead Cybersecurity Strategist from Snowflake, sits down to share his experience getting into the cybersecurity field. Growing up, he knew he wanted to work with computers, but he just didn't know what he wanted to do within the field. His college gave him great hands-on experience to then transition into the workforce. He's played both on the offense and defense of cybersecurity, and he says that experience showed him and he "kind of saw firsthand, uh, what a well funded and motivated, uh, team of cybersecurity experts can do and it's pretty scary." In addition, Omer is a big advocate for encouraging other security professionals to learn data skills, and strongly stands by the belief that the future of cybersecurity is in borrowing from modern data analytics tools and techniques that enable consistent risk reduction. He also makes it a priority to invest in his people, believing that this unlocks intrinsic motivation that enables a ton of personal growth and accomplishment, and is a big believer in the OKR system for enabling security operations and avoiding burnout. We thank Omer for sharing his story.

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Lauren Campanara: Learn to forgive yourself. [SOC Analyst] Nov 13, 2022

Lauren Campanara, a SOC Analyst from ThreatX shares her story as she made the decision to break into cybersecurity after spending twelve years in the cosmetology field. She worked her way through college in a job she did not enjoy and felt trapped in while competing her online degree. She found ThreatX and fell in love with the work she is doing now. Lauren hopes to inspire others, especially women, to consider a challenging and rewarding career in cybersecurity. She shares what it's like to be in a field she was not happy in and how she was the only one standing in her way to achieve her goals. She says "Another huge obstacle worth mentioning is learning to get out of my own way. You are your own worst critic. I learned to be more forgiving of myself." She hopes her story will inspire others to follow their dreams and stop holding themselves back. We thank Lauren for sharing her story.

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Gary Brickhouse: Riding the wave of growth. [CISO] Nov 06, 2022

Gary Brickhouse, CISO from GuidePoint Security, sits down to share his story, looking back over the last 25 years of his career working for Fortune 100 companies, including Disney. He shares that every role he has had, he’s had to grow into and how each one was a pivotal point in his technical career. Gary ended up transitioning to a different organization and says how it was really compliance that was the transitional sort of moment for him as he grew into different roles. He says, “What I found was sort of just, riding the wave of growth and opportunity and trying to take advantage of it along the way." He shares some advice for new people entering the industry, saying that he wants to help shatter the myth that you have to be technical to get into this field. We thank Gary for sharing his story.

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Jenny Brinkley: A cybersecurity rollercoaster. [Security] Oct 30, 2022

Jenny Brinkley, Director of AWS Security at Amazon Web Services (AWS), sits down to share her empowering story working through the ranks, and even co-founding her own company. While she did not have a typical upbringing in the industry, she credits her parents for ending up where she is now, as they told her that she could do anything and she decided as she was growing up that she could. She had the opportunity to co-found a small startup before selling it to AWS. She says that working in her position is like a rollercoaster, as no one thing is like the other, saying her highs are high and her lows are low. Being a woman in cybersecurity, she is working to empower more women in the field, Jenny says, "I think that we're living in such an interesting time where empathy, kindness, compassion, honesty, partnership in the security space, I mean, heck for any industry, but really for security and cyber security roles today, it's, it's the life blood and to be underestimated, especially as a female or because, you know, my background doesn't follow a cookie cutter pattern of what individuals think of when they think of individuals in security roles." We thank Jenny for sharing her story.

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Megan Doherty: Conquer barriers in the workforce. [Technical Specialist] Oct 23, 2022

Megan Doherty, a Technical Specialist from Microsoft Canada sits down to share her story of overcoming barriers in the workforce to get to where she is today in her career. Megan started out being a mechanical engineer before making the switch to do something with more creativity and problem solving. She shares about her passion of working with a group Microsoft created called "DigiGirlz." As well as just being able to work with her team who she says helps her face the world of adversity in her career. Megan said "There's so many barriers, just even mentally that we put on ourselves when it comes to looking for a career change or even thinking of cybersecurity as your next career path." She hopes that she leaves a legacy of kindness and compassion behind especially in the industry she is works in. We thank Megan for sharing her story with us.

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Amanda Adams: Pivoting into the tech world. [VP] Oct 16, 2022

Amanda Adams, VP, Americas Alliances at CrowdStrike, sits down to share her story as she pivoted into the tech field. She started her career wanting to be involved with sports, and after getting her master's degree Amanda was faced with a difficult choice, between working for The Golden State Warriors and Cisco. She ultimately chose Cisco as her path to move forward and has been working in technology ever since. Now she works for a team where she gets to prove her social skills and is focused on partnerships. She says that working in technology doesn't just have to be working with technology, there are many other ways you can get involved with the field. Amanda says "you can always pivot into the technology industry and support the broader mission by doing that job function." We thank Amanda for sharing her story.

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Payal Chakravarty: Overcoming bias in the workplace. [Security and Risk] Oct 09, 2022

Payal Chakravarty, Head of Product for Security and Risk from Coalition, sits down to share her story of working at several different organizations, including interning for IBM and Microsoft. After obtaining her master's degree, she worked with IBM a bit more closely and fell in love with one of the projects she was working on. Payal had a very interesting career path going from physical to virtual, virtual to cloud now, cloud to containers. She says that there is still some bias she has dealt with as a woman in her field, she says, "I think the way you handle it is you negotiate or you kind of calmly handle the situation, there's no ego involved." Payal shares that in working in this field you need to be in love with it, giving the advice that don't just choose a job because of the money or because it's cool, but because you feel connected to it as a profession. We thank Payal for sharing her story.

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Kayla Williams: Not everything related to cybersecurity is a fire drill. [CISO] Oct 02, 2022

Kayla Williams, CISO of Devo, sits down to share her story, from graduating with a finance degree to rising to where she is now. She quickly learned that finance was not for her and changed paths, working towards gaining an information security certificate. From there she was able to excel and was offered the opportunity to move to England which changed her life. Working in her new role, she really enjoys thriving with her team. She says "We really try to be the department of no problem versus the department of no." She mentions how her and her team work on a day to day basis together solving issues and yet she says not everything related to cybersecurity needs to be a fire drill. She would rather her and her team build bridges in the face of adversity and in the face of people who may be naysayers. We thank Kayla for sharing her story.

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Adam Marrè: Learning to be a leader. [CISO] Sep 25, 2022

Adam Marrè, CISO from Arctic Wolf, sits down to share his story of rising through the ranks. After 9/11 he decided he wanted to make a difference in the world, and so he chose to go into the FBI. There he learned the skills that got him to where he is today. In his time at the FBI, he was able to do what he loved, which was working with computers while gaining more knowledge on cybersecurity, and he became computer forensic certified. Ultimately, he needed a change in the end and decided to leave the FBI. He was able to learn the leadership skills he needed to move past that career path and follow a new dream. He is now able to share his passion with the world and help people understand security to help protect themselves as well as helping people finding success in their careers and in their lives. We thank Adam for sharing his story.

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Jaya Baloo: Don't be afraid to bounce ideas off your teammates. [CISO] Sep 18, 2022

Jaya Baloo, a Chief Information Security Officer from Avast sits down to share her story, sharing how she got into the technology field at a younger age with being introduced to computers and games on her PS 24. She started off going to college for political science and after not knowing what to do after that, she got her first start in cybersecurity. After falling in love with cybersecurity she kept moving up the ranks in different organizations before finding herself at Avast. She shares that at Avast she leans on her team quite a bit and you should never be afraid to bounce ideas off of your teammates. She says "The best ideas come from like bouncing ideas off of each other, sharing within the group and then if I can't figure it out myself, that's why I hire these amazing individuals it's to help me figure it out." We thank Jaya for sharing her story.

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Mark Logan: March towards your goals. [CEO] Sep 11, 2022

Mark Logan, CEO of One Identity, sits down to share his story, explaining how he fit into different roles growing up in different companies. Mark has nearly two decades of C-Suite experience at an array of different organizations, finally landing on his current position as the CEO at One Identity. Sharing his different roles, he also gives a quote from Steve Jobs, saying "it's not what I say yes to, it's what I say no to." He believes that's a key area for his workers because when he is able to make up his mind, his team and his customers have someone they can rely on. Mark says that as a CEO he wants to share the advice of always marching towards your goals, and identifying that different people have different goals because they work in different fields, but that's what makes a company work best. He says "I've found that the more you can delegate, provided you've got the right folks in place the better." We thank Mark for sharing his story.

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Anjali Hansen: Cross team collaboration works best. [Privacy Counsel] Sep 04, 2022

Anjali Hansen, a Senior Privacy Counselor from Noname Security shares her story as she climbed through the ranks to get to where she is today. When Anjali started, she wanted to do international law. She started working for the International Trade Commission after law school, where she was able to gain most of her experience and real world abilities. Working with online fraud and abuse, she shares, concerned her, because it felt like governments could not protect organizations from threats occurring, which is how she got interested in cybercrime. From there, she moved to Noname Security, and in working there, she found that she is working with every group in the organization, creating a cross team collaboration, saying how much she admires that type of model. She says "We have to help other departments protect the data because the data's throughout an organization, it's in HR, it's in sales and marketing, it's in IT, it's in finance. So you have to be able to work with all these teams." We thank Anjali for sharing her story.

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David Nosibor: Taking calculated risks. [Product Lead] Aug 28, 2022

David Nosibor, Product Lead for SafeCyber at UL Solutions, started his career in a unique way by not letting himself be pigeonholed. Within his company, David was able to grow to the position he is in now and says that his position feels like a lot of roles tied into one. He says that on any given day he is tackling all sorts of elements, such as marketing, operations, working with the engineering team, figuring out ways to acquire customers, retain them, and also working on sales and business development capabilities. He also says that constantly learning and getting new opportunities was how he ended up being where he is today. David states that staying focused and being on the lookout for ways to accomplish the mission is the best way for him in his company to democratize product security. He quotes the famous singer Sean Carter in saying that he firmly believes in taking calculated risks to get where you need to be going. We thank David for sharing his story.

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Roya Gordon: Becoming a trailblazer. [Research] Aug 21, 2022

Roya Gordon, a Security Research Evangelist at ICS cybersecurity firm Nozomi Networks, started her career as an intelligence specialist in the U.S. Navy. After her time serving, Roya spent time as a Control Systems Cybersecurity Analyst at the Idaho National Laboratory and then took the role of Cyber Threat Intelligence Manager at Accenture. She shares her story after the NSA accepted her and then quickly diverted, creating a new path for Roya to follow. She shares the jobs she went after along the way, leading up to Nozomi Networks and how she wishes to be a trailblazer for young black women everywhere. She hopes to shape young women's minds on what the cybersecurity industry is actually like, in hopes that she can be a figure people look up to. We thank Roya for sharing her story.

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Christian Lees: It's not always textbook. [CTO] Aug 14, 2022

Christian Lees, CTO at Resecurity, shares his story and insight on coming into the cybersecurity world. He considers himself a late bloomer because he did not go to college until he was 23. He wasn’t sure of what he wanted to do, and a family friend gave him a computer and the rest was history, he says. He fell in love with computers and started working at different companies trying to get ahead. He says it's not always textbook, and sometimes you just need to cut your teeth on something to get where you're going. Throughout his journey, he was constantly questioning whether he made the right decision, and in the end he says you have to be willing to "define friction points in it, you may join security field, not knowing what you're gonna do, but by being that curious person and breaking things and putting it back together, you'll find the right way and just never stop being curious." We thank Christian for sharing his story.

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Anna Belak: Acquiring skills to make you into a unicorn. [Thought Leadership] Aug 07, 2022

Anna Belak, Director of Thought Leadership at Sysdig, shares her story from physics to cyber. Anna explains how she went into college with the thinking of getting a physics degree and then for her PhD decided to switch to material science and engineering. Both were not something she enjoyed and ultimately decided to go into cyber. She shares some advice on how you should never limit yourself to your degree, as well as always learning new skills and honing in on skills you already have. She say's by doing these things it will make you into a unicorn, meaning if you are good at one thing and teach yourself to be good at something else, you will become that much more valuable. Anna hopes she makes an impact with the people she works with, she hopes they will want to work with her even long after she leaves a company. We thank Anna for sharing her story.

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Larry Cashdollar: Always learning new technology. [Intelligence response engineer] Jul 31, 2022

Larry Cashdollar, Principal Security Intelligence Response Engineer at Akamai Technologies, sits down with Dave Bittner to discuss his life leading up to working at Akamai. He shares his story from his beginnings to now, describing what college life was like as a young computer enthusiast. He says "If you look at my 1986 yearbook, I think it was my sixth grade class, it says computer scientist for my career path. So I had a love of computers when I was really young. I guess I knew what field I wanted to get into right off the bat." He describes different career paths that all led him to his current position. He also shares his love for computers and technology through the decades of his youth, and how he is learning, even now. We thank Larry for sharing his story.

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Mary Writz: Take a negative and make it into a positive. [VP Product Strategy] Jul 24, 2022

Mary Writz, Vice President of Product Strategy at ForgeRock, shares how each career path she has taken has led her to where she is now. Mary describes how she has been a woman working in a male dominated field for most of her career and how she had to take charge, and she had to get the men to take charge with her. She says "I was often leading people, mostly men older than me, potentially smarter than me, more well paid than me. So I had to learn how to think about galvanizing this group to charge forward with me, even though I was a bit of a minority in that way." She also states that she tells herself to always make a positive out of a negative by showing people how you can respond to what's happening with a lot of energy, focus, and care and that's what got her to where she is today.

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Mike Arrowsmith: Facing adversity in the workplace. [CTrO] Jul 17, 2022

Mike Arrowsmith, Chief Trust Officer at NinjaOne, leads the organization’s IT, security, and support infrastructure to ensure they meet customers’ security and data privacy demands as it scales. Mike discusses how his career path has led him to the position he currently holds and how exciting the world of cybersecurity can be. He mentioned how he mentored students in college thinking of going into the field, and he used a metaphor to help describe the industry, saying "We are working against adversaries that are always typically one step ahead. Figuratively, if you could imagine, you're trying to chase a ball, but you never can quite get your hands on it." He shares how he loves the evolving field and that he thrives in a situation where things are constantly changing. We thank Mike for sharing his story.

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Simone Petrella: Fake it, until you make it. [CEO] Jul 10, 2022

Simone Petrella, CEO of cybersecurity training workforce firm CyberVista, spent her career in the Department of Defense as a threat intelligence analyst before founding CyberVista. She says that running a company has a new set of challenges each day thrown at you. She explains that the way she finds the most success is by letting her team contribute to each matter, and having a say in the decisions made as they pertain to each department. Simone says "I would say is I am a firm firm believer in the idea of empowering people to really own and kind of run with the things that they're passionate about." She notes that people will do amazing things when they are passionate and that faking it until you make it is true, because you will get where you're going by having that passion and that inspiration. We thank Simone for sharing her story.

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Richard Melick: Finding the right pattern to solve the problem. [Threat reporting] Jun 26, 2022

Richard Melick, Director of Threat Reporting for Zimperium, talks about his journey, from working in the military to moving up to the big screens. He shares that he's been in the business of solving unique cybersecurity problems for so long that he has found his own path that works very well for him. He says, "if I go to a unique problem and try to solve it, I find that I'm solving it the same way that I would've solved it five years ago, because I found my pattern." Richard reflects on his time working in the industry, from moving away from the military and into different roles over the years. He notes that giving credit where credit is due, to those who deserve it, is how you keep the audience engaged as a storyteller. We thank Richard for sharing his story.

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Lauren Van Wazer: You have to be your own North Star. [CISSP] Jun 19, 2022

Lauren Van Wazer, Vice President, Global Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs for Akamai Technologies, shares her story as she followed her own North Star and landed where she is today. She describes her career path, highlighting how she went from working at AT&T to being able to work in the White House. She shares how she is a coach and a leader to the team she works with now, saying "my view is I've got their back, if they make a mistake, it's my mistake, and if they do well, they've done well." Lauren hopes she's made an impact in the world by making it a little bit better than before, and discusses how she doesn't let anyone stop her from her goals. Lauren shares her outlook on her experiences, calling attention to different roles in her life that made her journey all the better. We thank Lauren for sharing.

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Deepen Desai: A doctor in computer viruses. [CISO] Jun 12, 2022

Deepen Desai, Global Chief Information Security Officer at Zscaler, shares his story as a doctor that treats computer viruses. He describes how he got into the security field and his work with Zscaler. He says what it's like learning and growing in this field and shares great advice for people who are up and coming in the field. Deepen describes working with an incredible team and how much joy it brings him to see his team learning and growing beyond their roles working with him. He says he want's to be remembered as a mentor among his colleagues. He says "I still remember my first team that I built, 15 years ago. Most of those guys are leading key technologies at many of the major security vendors, and some of them are still with me." We thank Deepen for sharing his story.

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Laura Hoffner: Setting your sights high. [Intelligence] Jun 05, 2022

Laura Hoffner, Executive Vice President at Concentric, shares her story about her time working as a Naval Intelligence Officer and supporting special operations around the globe for 12 years, to now, where she transitioned to the Naval Reserves and joined the Concentric team. Laura has known since she was in the seventh grade that she wanted to work with SEALs and work in intelligence, so she set her goals high and achieved them shortly after graduating college. She credits being a Naval Intelligence Officer to helping her get to where she is today and says how much she is enjoying working with Concentric, saying she's "ultimately just incredibly benefiting from unbelievable mentors at the company itself." We thank Laura for sharing her story.

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Michael Scott: A team of humble intellects. [Information security] May 29, 2022

Chief Information Security Officer at Immuta, Michael Scott shares his story from working at a forgotten internet service provider to leading the security fight for major food chain restaurants. Michael explains how the different roles at various companies he has worked with paved his way to where he is now at Immuta. He works with a group of colleagues and he leads in a different style, describing that "It really is just a collection of a lot of, we call humble intellects" working with him. Michael attributes adversity to being a cornerstone of existence in the security community, and explains how that helps him keep up the fight. We thank Michael for sharing his story with us.

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Charity Wright: Pursue what you love. [Threat intelligence] May 22, 2022

Threat intelligence analyst at Recorded Future, Charity Wright, shares her story from the army to her career today. Transitioning from the army to cybersecurity was an exciting change for her. During college she was recruited by the U.S. army where she started her journey and learned new skills paving her pathway to threat intelligence where she is now. She shares that she works with a great team of junior analysts who are constantly checking each others' biases which helps keep Charity grounded in her work. Charity spends her days keeping an eye on threats around the world where she says there is never a dull day in her line of work. We thank Charity for sharing her story with us.

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Eric Escobar: Collaboration is key. [Pen tester] May 15, 2022

Principal consultant and pen tester at Secureworks, Eric Escobar, shares his career path translating his childhood favorite Legos to civil engineering and pivoting to cybersecurity. Eric was always headed toward engineering and got both his bachelor and master degrees in civil engineering. Upon breaking into a network with a friend, he was bitten by the cybersecurity bug. Making the switch to the red team and basically becoming a bankrobber for hire, Eric tests the security of many companies' networks. He feels that curiosity is an essential trait for cybersecurity and collaboration is key as no one person knows everything. He advises those interested in cybersecurity to just start. We thank Eric for sharing his story with us.

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Amanda Fennell: There's a cyber warrior in all of us [Information] May 08, 2022

Chief security officer and chief information officer at Relativity, Amanda Fennell shares her story from archeology to cybersecurity. She shares the path that lead her towards becoming an archeologist and how it turned out not being exactly what she expected. She then shares how she got into the cyber business and how her past has impacted what she's doing now. She describes how she would like to be remembered in the cyber world, she says "I do hope that I left things better than I found them, not just the security of a product or a company, but I believe strongly that every person has a little cyber warrior inside of them." We thank Amanda for sharing her story.

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Jon DiMaggio: Two roads diverged. [Strategy] May 01, 2022

Chief security strategist from Analyst1, Jon DiMaggio shares his story on how he grew to become a part of the cybersecurity world. He describes different jobs that paved the way to the knowledge he has in the industry right now, and he even shares about an experience that led him to a path that split and which decision he would make, would be crucial in his career. He explains which way he ended up going and how a critical part of his career helped to determine that path. He says "there's two paths when you have that happen, you can either let it defeat you, or you know, you come back swinging." We thank Jon for sharing his story.

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Danielle Jablanski: Finding the path to success [Strategy] Apr 24, 2022

Operational technology cybersecurity strategist from Nozomi Networks, Danielle Jablanski shares her story of building a target map to end up where she is today. She shares how she started in college and how different paths in life got her to be on the target of success where she is today. She says " you build out that kind of target of where you want to be, and understand that getting to that point might mean doing things you don't enjoy for a number of years, but figuring that out is another way to get to that target without having like a clear bullseye" She goes on to explain how this target map is helping her to create real change and ultimately makes an impact. We thank Danielle for sharing her story.

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Satya Gupta: Rising to your contribution. [CTO] Apr 17, 2022

Co-founder and CTO of Virsec, Satya Gupta shares his story of how he has over 25 years of expertise in embedded systems, network security and systems architecture. He also talks about how a colleague of his told him something that resinated with him, he said " that was really a remarkable statement that I heard from that person. You rise to the point where you can actually contribute." He also discusses how he got into the startup atmosphere and how different scenarios in his life helped to lead him to the successful man he has become in the cyber community. We thank Satya for sharing his story.

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Chenxi Wang: Overcoming the obstacle of fear. [Venture Capital] Apr 10, 2022

Founder and general partner of Rain Capital, Chenxi shares her story and how she conquered and got over the obstacle of fear to reach her goals in life. " I realized a lot of times my obstacle is my own fear rather than a real obstacle" Wang states, she also shares her story of breaking glass ceilings as a female founder and working in the field of cybersecurity. She hopes to be remembered for being a kind person and developing her own venture fund, as she shares her story to the top, she states what she does and how she got to be where she is today. We thank Chenxi for sharing her story.

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Michael DeBolt: From acting to cyber. [Intelligence] Apr 03, 2022

Chief intelligence officer at Intel 471, Michael shares his story where he started as an actor and quickly changed over to intelligence and what the transition was like for him. Michael grew up wanting to be an actor and even was able to land some acting jobs, after going into the Marine Corps he decided to leave acting behind and start a new path in his journey. He says looking for a purpose really helped to shape him, saying "looking back on it, I feel like my life purpose has really been all about kind of this relentless pursuit of justice" and how the risks in his life has helped to right the wrongs of the world. We thank Michael for sharing his story.

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Arti Lalwani: Supporting and being the change. [Risk Management] Mar 27, 2022

Risk Management and Privacy Knowledge Leader at A-LIGN, Arti Lalwani shares her story from finance to risk management and how she made the transition. Arti started her career in finance after graduating with a finance degree. Quickly learning the field was not for her, she decided to dip her toes into the tech world. She credits her mentors for helping her and said "they were able to push me up and get me there faster than I even thought." Arti says that she would like to be a part, and hopes to be apart, of the change where women are supporting women in the field. We thank Arti for sharing her story.

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Derek Manky: Putting the rubber to the road. [Threat Intelligence] Mar 20, 2022

Chief Security Strategist and VP of Global Threat Intelligence at FortiGuard Labs, Derek Manky, shares his story from programmer to cybersecurity and how it all came together. Derek started his career teaching programming because he had such a passion for it. When he joined Fortinet, Derek said putting where it "really started putting the rubber to the road and connecting my previous experience with programming and debugging and knowledge of operating systems and all that with real-world applications." Derek advises that it doesn't need to be complicated getting into the cybersecurity field and that there are many avenues to enter the field. He hopes to have made a real dent, or "hopefully a crater" in cyber crime when he ends his career. We thank Derek for sharing his story with us.

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Kristin Strand: Be firm in your goals. [Consultant] Mar 13, 2022

Cybersecurity Associate Consultant at BARR Advisory, Kristin Strand, shares her journey from the military to teaching and now to cybersecurity. Kristin shares how she'd wanted to be a teacher since she was young. She joined the Army to help pay for college and throughout her career has taken advantage of programs to help her move on to her next challenge. From teaching, Kristin decided to transition to IT and came to cybersecurity through a Department of Labor program. She's also currently training to be a drill sergeant. Kristin advises you stand firm to your goals and know what you want. It will come around. We thank Kristin for sharing her story with us.

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Chetan Conikee: Create narratives of your journey. [CTO] Mar 06, 2022

Founder and CTO of ShiftLeft, Chetan Conikee shares his story from computer science to founding his own company. When choosing a career, Chetan notes that "the liking and doing has to matter and be in conjunction with each other." Explaining the parallels in his home country of India and where he studied his for his masters in the US, Chetan stresses the need to find someone who inspires you to follow and learn from. On being an entrepreneur, he says, "The entrepreneurial mindset is a sum total of many sufferings that lead to success." Chethan advises you take time out to write narratives so that you are remembered and so that others following a similar path may learn from you. We thank Chetan for sharing his story with us.

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Sloane Menkes: What is the 2%? [Consultant] Feb 27, 2022

Principal in PricewaterhouseCoopers Cyber Risk and Regulatory Practice, Sloane Menkes, shares her story of how non-linear math helped to shape her life and career. Sloane credits a high school classmate for inspiring her mantra "What is the 2%?" that she employs when she feels like things are shutting down. She talks about her experiences in calculus class at the US AIr Force Academy that helped to enlighten her and inform the intuitive problem solving skill or way of thinking that she'd been employing in her life. She joined Office of Special Investigations and working with Howard Schmidt is where Sloane first started to get interested in cybersecurity. She shares what she loves about the consulting role is that the environment is constantly changing, and she offers some advice for women interested in cybersecurity. We thank Sloane for sharing her story with us.

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Joe Carrigan: Build your network. [Security engineer] Feb 20, 2022

Senior security engineer with the Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute and the Institute for Assured Autonomy, Joe Carrigan, shares what he calls his life mistake and what spurred him to finally choose a career in technology. Throughout his life, Joe had interest in technology, he even worked at the computer lab in college, but never set his sights on that for a career. A conversation with a stranger guided him in that direction and he's been there ever since. As co-host of the CyberWire's Hacking Humans, Joe sees some heartbreaking results of scams and feels education of the public will help to prevent these. Joe reminds us to build our networks as they include people we can always go back to either when searching for a position or looking to fill one on our teams. We thank Joe for sharing his story with us.

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Roselle Safran: So much opportunity. [Entrepreneur] Feb 13, 2022

CEO and Founder of KeyCaliber, Roselle Safran, takes us on her circuitous career journey from startup to White House and back to startup again. With a degree in civil engineering, Roselle veered off into a more technical role at a startup and she says "caught the startup bug." After convincing a hiring manager that she could learn on the job, she transitioned to computer forensics and started on the path of cybersecurity. Roselle worked in government for the Department of Homeland Security and then to the Executive Office of the President leading all of the security operations. She jumped back into the world of startups and has stayed there. Roselle tells people interested in a career in cybersecurity to just apply. Learn as much as you can and go for it. We thank Roselle for sharing her story with us.

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Helen Patton: A platform to talk about security. [CISO] Jan 30, 2022

Advisory CISO at Cisco, Helen Patton, shares that a combination of dumb luck, hard work and serendipity that got her to where she is today. Growing up in the country in Australia, Helen notes that computers were not really a thing. She happened into technology after moving to the US, as she was the only person in her office under 40. Of course she would be comfortable with computers and able to handle a database conversion, right? That launched her into a career that spanned supporting small nonprofits, working at one of the biggest banks on Wall Street while leading a global team, being the CISO of a major university, and now Advisory CISO at Cisco. Helen recently wrote a book, "Navigating the Cybersecurity Career Path," to help others know when it's time to move on from one role to another role as part of desire to give back to the community. We thank Helen for sharing her story with us.

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Andrew Maloney: Never-ending thirst for knowledge. [COO] Jan 23, 2022

COO and Co-Founder of Query. AI, Andrew Maloney, shares how the building blocks he learned in the military helped him get where he is today. Coming from a blue collar family with a minimal knowledge of computers, Andrew went into computer operations in the Air Force. While deployed to Oman just after the start of the Iraq War, Andrew said he got his break into security. That's where he learned the components that fit together in order to effectively secure an environment. Andrew's words of wisdom: You've got to keep pushing and you've got to believe in yourself and never sell yourself short. We thank Andrew for sharing his story with us.

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Marina Ciavatta: Going after the human error. [Social engineer] Jan 16, 2022

Social engineer and CEO of Hekate, Marina Ciavatta, shares her story of how people think her job is a la Mission Impossible coming from the ceiling with a rope and stealing stuff in the dead of the night. Marina does physical pentesting. Starting with an unused degree in journalism, Marina turned her talent for writing into a job as a content producer for a technology company and this appealed to her self-proclaimed nerdism. She fell in love with hacking and got into pentesting thanks to a friend. Marina recommends those interested in physical pentesting "try to find other social engineers to mingle. It's in the name. We are social creatures." We thank Marina for sharing her story with us.

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Julian Waits: Find a way to help society. [Serial Entrepreneur] Jan 09, 2022

Senior Vice President and Executive in Residence with Rapid7 and Chairman for Cyversity, Julian Waits, grew up in the era of the Justice League and Superman and it shaped his career. Julian always wanted to do something where he could find a way to help society to basically help others. Starting out as a Baptist minister with aspirations of being a professional musician, Julian found it more practical to take some technology classes and practice his saxophone when he had time. His first tech job was at Texaco where he worked on early networks and moved into systems engineering at Compaq. Julian notes his ADD made coding less attractive than talking with others to solve problems and Compaq provided him with opportunities to pivot. Searching out diversity, Julian moved to DC, and had his first taste of startups. He now describes himself as a serial entrepreneur. We thank Julian for sharing his story with us.

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Dr. Rois Ni Thuama: Get into the game. [Cyber governance] Jan 02, 2022

Head of Cyber Governance with Red Sift, Dr. Rois Ni Thuama shares the circuitous route of her career into cyber governance. She notes the route "looks really clean, but actually it was a bit more Jeremy Bearimy." While at Trinity College, Rois was moved to be part of history unfolding in South Africa and pause her studies. While there, she began making music videos and wildlife documentaries. Upon her return to London, Rois started working in corporate governance and risk at a music technology startup. This ignited her enthusiasm for startups. She now works in a company with several coworkers from that tech startup doing cyber governance. Rois advises law students of many ways into the industry including doing coding, learning risk management, and understanding privacy legislation, and then "just get into the game." We thank Rois for sharing her story.

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Encore: Andrew Hammond: Understanding the plot. [Historian and Curator] Dec 26, 2021

Historian and Curator at the International Spy Museum. Dr. Andrew Hammond, shares how he came to share the history of espionage and intelligence as a career. Starting out in the Royal Air Force when 9/11 happened, Andrew found himself trying to understand what was going on in the world. Studying history and international relations gave him some perspective and led him on his career path which included an introduction to museum industry at the 9/11 Museum. After a stint in academia in the UK, Andrew found his way back to the US and eventually ended up at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC. He said one of the "greatest parts of the job being able to engage with the artifacts" and share their stories. We thank Andrew for sharing his story with us.

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Ed Amoroso: Security shouldn't be the main dish. [Computer Science] Dec 19, 2021

Chief Executive Officer and Founder of TAG Cyber, Ed Amoroso, shares how he learned on the job and grew his career. In his words, Ed "went from my dad having an ARPANET connection and I'm learning Pascal, to Bell Labs, to CISO, to business, to quitting, to starting something new. And now I'm riding a new exponential up and it's a hell of a ride." Hear from Ed how he sees security as a side dish that you'll progress into naturally once you've paid your dues and mastered a skill like networking, software or databases. We thank Ed for sharing his story with us.

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Hannah Kenney: Focused on people. [Risk] Dec 12, 2021

Manager in BARR Advisory's Cyber Risk Advisory Practice, Hannah Kenney, shares her journey from never considering technology as a career to having it click in an informations systems class in college. After noticing she was the only one in the room who enjoyed the lecture, Hannah knew she wanted to go down the technology route. In talking about her work, Hannah describes it as creative problem solving. She hopes "people see me as someone who viewed cybersecurity and risk as something that is focused on people first and foremost." We thank Hannah for sharing her story with us.

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Ryan Kovar: Everyday, assume compromise. [Strategy] Dec 05, 2021

Distinguished Security Strategist at Splunk, Ryan Kovar, shares his journey that started in the US Navy and how it contributed to his leadership in life after the military. Cutting his teeth as sysadmin on the USS Kitty Hawk, Ryan worked as a contractor following the Navy. At Splunk, he leads the SURGe research team to solve what he calls the "blue collar for the blue team problems". He works hard on incorporating diversity of thought. Ryan notes, "I've been doing cybersecurity or IT now for over 20 years and of that 20 years of knowledge, only about five years of that knowledge is really relevant. You can't sit on your laurels in this industry." We thank Ryan for sharing his story with us.

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Anisha Patel: Right along with them. [Program management] Nov 28, 2021

Associate Director at Raytheon Intelligence and Space in the Cyber Protection Services Division Anisha Patel always loved math and it defined her career journey. As a first-generation American from an Asian household, Anisha said she was destined for a STEM-focused career and chose electrical engineering. She began her career and remains at Raytheon (formerly E-Systems) working in several areas of the business thanks to her skills and informal mentors. Starting a rotational assignment in program management (7 years ago), Anisha said she "went to the dark side and then the hole closed and there I ended up." Anisha talks about the need to bring diversity of thought into the industry and adds to her team with this in mind. We thank Anisha for sharing her story with us.

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MK Palmore: Lead from where you stand. [CISO] Nov 21, 2021

Director of Google Cloud's Office of the CISO, MK Palmore, dedicated much of his life to public service and now brings his experience working for the greater good to the private sector. A graduate of the US Naval Academy, including the Naval Academy Prep School that he calls the most impactful educational experience of his life, MK commissioned into the US Marine Corps following his service academy time. He joined the FBI and that is where he came into the cybersecurity realm. MK is passionate about getting more diversity, equity and inclusion into industry. We thank MK for sharing his story with us.

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Swati Shekhar: Challenges increase your risk appetite. [Engineering] Nov 14, 2021

Ground Labs' Head of Engineering, Swati Shekhar, shares her circuitous route from and back to engineering. Always being interested in leveraging the tools available to solve problems, Swati talks about how she found her place in engineering. She mentions how she had her first real experience with a computer when she was 17 in her first year at college. Aside from being one of 30 young women in a sea of 500 young men there, Swati described it as a "good culture shock because anything that takes you out of your comfort zone actually makes you learn and grow." She notes that challenges experienced in life increase your risk appetite so significantly. Swati advises those looking to make a job change to be certain of what is attracting them and to be yourself. We thank Swati for sharing her story with us.

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Jamil Jaffer: You should run towards risk. [Strategy] Nov 07, 2021

Senior Vice President for Strategy, Partnerships, and Corporate Development at IronNet Cybersecurity, Jamil Jaffer, shares how his interest in technology brought him full circle. Always a tech guy, Jamil paid he way through college doing computer support. Jamil went to law school and worked in various jobs in Washington DC including a stint in the newly-created National Security division of the Justice Department just after 9/11. When talking about adversity, Jamil notes, "Adversity has happened in life, but you gotta run at those things. To me, you know, I like risk. I think risk is something that a lot of people shy away from." We thank Jamil for sharing his story with us.

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Jadee Hanson: Cybersecurity is a team effort. [CISO] Oct 31, 2021

Jadee Hanson, CIO and CISO at Code 42, started her technology journey thanks to the help of a teacher in high school. She began college studying computer science and ended with a degree in computer information systems as it had more of the business side. Working in the private sector for companies such as Deloitte, Target and Code 42, Jadee gained experience and specialized in insider risk. She notes "utopia for me and my team is to get to a spot where the team is just firing on all cylinders and being really proactive about what's coming and what's changing." Jadee mentions she tries hard to do things that might scare her every day. For those interested in the field, especially young women, Jadee recommends they get involved and then stay curious. We thank Jadee for sharing her story with us.

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Mark Nunnikhoven: Providing clarity about security. [Cloud strategy] Oct 24, 2021

Distinguished Cloud Strategist at Lacework, Mark Nunnikhoven, has gone from taking technology to its limits for his own understanding to providing clarity about security for others. Mark fell in love with his Commodore 128 and once he realized he could bend the machine to his will, it set him on the path to technology. While he had some bumps in the road, dropping out of high school and not following the traditional path in college, Mark did complete his masters in information security. His professional life took him from Canadian public service to the private sector where Mark noted the culture shift was an eye-opening experience. Mark always looks to learn something new and share that with others and that is evidenced as his includes teaching as a facet of his career. We thank Mark for sharing his story with us.

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Ell Marquez: It's okay to be new. [Linux] Oct 17, 2021

Linux and Security Advocate at Intezer Ell Marquez shares her journey from the family ranch to security. Needing a life change due to a bunch of circumstances that had occurred that left her almost homeless, Ell found out about a six week Linux boot camp that took her down the path toward technology. She fell in love with security at at BSides Conference and hasn't looked back. Ell says she recently started a campaign called "it's okay to be new" noting that no matter how long you've been in the industry, you need to be new because technology changes so quickly. She concludes by offering one final piece of advice to everybody is just "be unapologetically yourself." We thank Ell for sharing her story with us.

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Brandon Karpf: A sailor of the 21st century. [Transitioning service member] Oct 10, 2021

Lieutenant in the US Navy and Skillbridge Fellow at the CyberWire, Brandon Karpf, knew he wanted to join the military at a young age. He achieved that through the US Naval Academy where he was a member of the men’s heavyweight rowing team. Commissioned as a cryptologic warfare officer, Brandon was sent to MIT for a graduate degree where he experienced the exact opposite of the Naval Academy’s highly structured life. Brandon’s later work with both NSA and US Cyber Command helped him gain experience and cyber operations skills. As he transitions from active duty to civilian life, Brandon shares his personal challenges and struggles during that process. Through the DoD Skillbridge Fellowship program, Brandon’s transition has him sharing his skills with the CyberWire. We thank Brandon for sharing his expertise and his story with us.

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Pattie Dillon: Take the leap. [Anti-fraud] Oct 03, 2021

Product Manager in Anti-Fraud Solutions at SpyCloud, Pattie Dillon shares her journey from raising her family to specializing in the anti-fraud space. Upon reentering the workforce, Pattie worked on identity verification and developed a system with privacy concerns in mind. She moved to work in gift cards and was exposed to money laundering. Traveling along the fraud spectrum, Pattie learned about underground data and feels that this data can be leveraged to actually prevent and fight online fraud. Pattie believes if you don't try, you'll never know. We know we appreciate Pattie sharing her story with us.

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Dave Bittner: From puppet shows to podcasts. [Media] Sep 26, 2021

Host of the CyberWire Podcast, Dave Bittner, wanted to work with the Muppets, so naturally he landed in cybersecurity. Dave and his Cookie Monster puppet spent much of his childhood putting on shows for his parents friends. During one of those performances, he was discovered and got his start at the local PBS station. A radio, television and film major in college, Dave owned his own company and as the most tech-savvy member of the group, handled that side of things. Dave notes his cybersecurity challenges back then consisted of maybe a corrupt floppy disk. It wasn't until he joined the CyberWIre that cybersecurity became Dave's focus. A former boss showed him how to lead a team and treat everyone with kindness regardless of their role. We thank Dave for sharing his story with us.

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Limor Kessem: Be an upstander. [Security Advisor] Sep 19, 2021

Executive Security Advisor at IBM Security Limor Kessem says she started her cybersecurity career by pure chance. Limor made a change from her childhood dream of being a doctor and came into cybersecurity with her passion, investment, discipline, and perseverance. Limor talks about how we must tighten our core security and at the same time we allow innovation to help us move forward with the times. She's been fortunate to have been able to stand up for others and has had others support her. She said that is very motivating and has allowed her to really explore every possible thing in her career that she can contribute without limiting herself to a certain role. We thank Limor for sharing her story with us.

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Joe Bradley: A bit of a winding road. [Chief Scientist] Sep 12, 2021

Chief Scientist at LivePerson Joe Bradley takes us down his circuitous career journey that led him back to math. Joe had many ambitions from opera singer to middle school teacher, spent some time at two national labs and went back to his first love of math and physics. He notes that many of the most mathematically intuitive people that he's met are people that also have a creative outlet and a lot of times it's music. Adding a business aspect to his technical work, Joe came to his current position. He recommends going deep into your preferred subject and hopes that it helps you to become something different because of all you put into the work. We thank Joe for sharing his story with us.

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Natali Tshuva: Impacting critical industries. [CEO] Sep 05, 2021

CEO and co-founder of Sternum, Natali Tshuva shares how she took her interest in science and technology and made a career and company out of it. Beginning her computer science undergraduate degree at age 14 through a special program in Israel, Natali says it opened up a new world for her. Her required service in the IDF found Natali as a member of Unit 8200, the Israeli intelligence. In the Israeli corporate space following the IDF, Natali discovered how cybersecurity could actually create impact in the real world environment and found a way to combine her cybersecurity expertise with the passion to impact critical industries like the medical industry. Natali recommends that those entering the field get some hands-on experience and use your unique strengths to find a way to make the world a better place. We thank Natali for sharing her story.

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Rich Hale: Understanding the data. [CTO] Aug 29, 2021

Chief Technology Officer of ActiveNav Rich Hale takes us through his career aspirations of board game designer (one he has yet to realize), through his experience with the Royal Air Force to the commercial sector where his firm works to secure dark data. During his time in the Air Force, Rich was fortunate to serve on a wide range of different platforms from training aircraft to bombers, and all the way into procurement and policy. Transitioning to the commercial sector, Rich notes he was well prepared for some aspects, but lacking in some he's made up on his own. Rich likes to lead with vision and empower his teams. He counsels that you should not fear making a career change, but be sure to look twice before making the leap. We thank Rich for sharing his story with us.

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Jennifer Walsmith: Pioneering and defining possible. [Cyber Solutions] Aug 22, 2021

Vice President for Cyber and Information Solutions within Mission Systems at Northrop Grumman, Jennifer Walsmith takes us on her pioneering career journey. Following in her father's footsteps at the National Security Agency, Jennifer began her career out of high school in computer systems analysis. Jennifer notes she saw the value of a college degree and at her parents' urging attended night school. She completed her bachelors in computer science at University of Maryland, Baltimore County with the support of the NSA. Jennifer talks about the support of her team at NSA where she was one of the first women to have a career and a family, raising two children while working. Upon retirement from government service, Jennifer chose an organization with values that closely matched her own and uses her position to help her team define possible where they sometimes think they can't. We thank Jennifer for sharing her story with us.

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Rick Howard: Give people resources. [CSO] Aug 15, 2021

Chief Security Officer, Chief Analyst, and Senior Fellow at the CyberWire, Rick Howard, shares his travels through the cybersecurity job space. The son of a gold miner who began his career out of West Point in the US Army, Rick worked his way up to being the Commander of the Army's Computer Emergency Response Team. Rick moved to the commercial sector working for Bruce Schneier running Counterpane's global SOC. Rick's first CSO job was for Palo Alto Networks where he was afforded the opportunity to create the Cybersecurity Canon Hall of Fame and the Cyber Threat Alliance. Upon considering retirement, Rick called up on the CyberWire to ask about doing a podcast and he was hired on to the team. Rick shares a proud moment through a favorite story. We thank Rick for sharing his story with us.

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Alyssa Miller: We have to elevate others. [BISO] Aug 08, 2021

Business Information Security Officer at S&P Global Ratings, Alyssa Miller, joins us to talk about her journey to become a champion to create a welcoming nature and acceptance of diversity in the cybersecurity community. Starting her first full-time tech position while still in college, Alyssa noted the culture shock being in both worlds. Entering as a programmer and then moving to pen testing where she got her start in security, Alyssa grew into a leader who is committed to elevating those around her. Some stumbling blocks along the way gave her pause and helped point her in her current role where Alyssa works to bring more diverse views to improve the problem-solving in the space, something she sees as a key to success for the industry. We thank Alyssa for sharing her story with us.

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Andrew Hammond: Understanding the plot. [Historian and Curator] Aug 01, 2021

Historian and Curator at the International Spy Museum. Dr. Andrew Hammond, shares how he came to share the history of espionage and intelligence as a career. Starting out in the Royal Air Force when 9/11 happened, Andrew found himself trying to understand what was going on in the world. Studying history and international relations gave him some perspective and led him on his career path which included an introduction to museum industry at the 9/11 Museum. After a stint in academia in the UK, Andrew found his way back to the US and eventually ended up at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC. He said one of the "greatest parts of the job being able to engage with the artifacts" and share their stories. We thank Andrew for sharing his story with us.

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Ingrid Toppelberg: Knowing how to take risks will pay off. [Cybersecurity education] Jul 25, 2021

Chief Product Officer at Cybint Solutions, Ingrid Toppelberg, shares her journey from consulting to bootcamp coach and cybersecurity education. As a young girl, Ingrid wanted to do everything from being a teacher to the head of the World Bank. After consulting for several years, Ingrid found cybersecurity. What she found fascinating about the cyber world is how important it is for absolutely everyone at all levels to know about cybersecurity. Ingrid also develops and conducts bootcamps to reskill displaced people into cybersecurity. Ingrid says to those interested in cyber, "just do it. We need different kinds of minds in cyber keeping us safe." We thank Ingrid for sharing her story with us.

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Peter Baumann: Adding value to data. [CEO] Jul 18, 2021

CEO of ActiveNav, Peter Baumann, takes us on his career journey from minor home electrical experiments to the business of data discovery. He began his career as an electrical engineer, but felt an entrepreneurial spirit was part of his makeup. Following his return to college to study business and finance, Peter talks about being set on the path to shine the light on the data to provide discovery capability. To those interested in the field, he suggests having a broad familiarity of different approaches. We thank Peter for sharing his story with us.

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Taree Reardon: A voice for women in cyber. [Threat Analyst] Jul 11, 2021

Senior Threat Analyst and Shift Lead for VMware Taree Reardon shares her journey to becoming leader for women in the cybersecurity field. A big gamer who has always been interested in hacking and forensics, Taree found her passion while learning about cybersecurity. She's dedicated to diversity and inclusion and found her footing on a team made up of 50% women. Taree spends her days tracking and blocking attacks and as a champion for women. Trusting yourself is top on her list of advice. We thank Taree for sharing her story.

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Dwayne Price: Sharing information. [Project Management] Jul 04, 2021

Senior technical project manager Dwayne Price takes us on his career journey from databases to project management. Always fascinated with technology and one who appreciates the aspects of the business side of a computer implementations, Dwayne attended UMBC for both his undergraduate and graduate degrees in information systems management. A strong Unix administration background prepared him to understand the relationship between Unix administration and database security. He recommends those interested in cybersecurity check out the NICE Framework as it speaks to all the various different types of roles in cybersecurity, Dwayne prides himself on his communication skills and openness. We thank Dwayne for sharing his story with us.

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Maria Thompson-Saeb: Be flexible and make it happen. [Program Management] Jun 27, 2021

Senior Program Manager for Governance, Risk and Compliance at Illumio, Maria Thompson-Saeb shares experiences that led to her career in cybersecurity. Interested in computers and not a fan of math, Maria opted for information systems management rather than computer science. She started her career as a government contractor. Once in the private sector, Maria moved into the Unix and Linux environments where she says "something that would totally change everything." She gained an interest in security and took it upon herself to train up and move into that realm. Maria notes it was not without roadblocks, but that being flexible helped her address those challenges and make her career in security happen. We thank Maria for sharing her story.

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Avi Shua: Try to do things by yourself. [CEO] Jun 20, 2021

CEO and co-founder of Orca Security Avi Shua shares his thoughts on ways to succeed in cybersecurity. Avi's excitement about cybersecurity began when he was 13 as he tried to think of ways to get around the school's network security. He joined the Israeli Army's Intelligence Unit 8200 and experienced some unique cybersecurity training programs that he would eventually come to teach. Learning to solve problems on your own is a skill Avi acquired and took into his professional career. In his current position, Avi works to advance Orca's mission. He loves that his company works to reduce friction and enables security people to do their jobs. Instead of becoming of plumbers connecting things, Avi says they can do their job and become real security practitioners. We thank Avi for sharing his story with us.

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Margaret Cunningham: A people scientist with a technology focus. [Behavioral science} Jun 13, 2021

Principal Research Scientist for Human Behavior at Forcepoint, Margaret Cunningham shares her story of how she landed in cybersecurity. With a background in psychology and counseling and not feeling that one-on-one counseling was her thing, Margaret had a transformational moment in her PhD program in applied experimental technology when she realized she could "provide helping services and good work services at a broader scale." Margaret found her professional footing at DHS's Human Systems Integration Branch of Science and Technology Department as the person who figured out how to measure how new technologies impacted human performance. Margaret points out that making connections and reading whatever you can is important to stay up to date in the field. She notes that her statistical analysis skills are an asset. She hopes to create champions in human behavior and performance in the world of technology. We thank Margaret for sharing her story with us.

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Dave Farrow: The guy that enabled the business. [Security leadership] Jun 06, 2021

VP of Information Security at Barracuda Dave Farrow shares how a teenage surfer fell in love with software development and made his way in the cybersecurity field. Dave chose to study electrical engineering in college because he wanted to learn something that didn't make sense to him. He says he's done things in his career that he said he'd never do: for example, he went into and fell in love with software development. Taking on leadership of a bug bounty program at Barracuda blossomed into the creation of an internal security team. Dave wants to be the guy who enables the business and not the one who prevented it. He hopes all will come to recognize that there are other threats besides cybersecurity threats to business. We thank Dave for sharing his story with us.

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Baan Alsinawi: Trust ourselves and be courageous. [Compliance] May 30, 2021

Managing Director at Cerberus Sentinel, Chief Compliance Officer and the President of TalaTek, Baan Alsinawi shares her cybersecurity journey from a teenager who wanted to understand computers and held several positions in IT from help desk to systems engineering and cybersecurity. Founding her own business focusing on compliance, Baan says she spends maybe only 20% of her day on technical tasks and that there is always so more to do. Finding the right people for her team is a marker of success for Baan. She talks of the importance of sharing the sense of community of women in technology and nurturing women in the field. We thank Baan for sharing her story with us.

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Michael Bishop Jr.: Good, bad or indifferent. [Security] May 23, 2021

Senior Security Officer at Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Michael Bishop Jr. shares his journey from Army infantryman deployed to Iraq to working in cybersecurity. After 12 years in the U.S. Army, Mike found himself in a rough spot. Looking for work and having some personal challenges, Mike's mentor, an Army officer he met while enlisted, recognized Mike's struggles and helped to nudge him toward cybersecurity. Mike credits his mentor with helping him transition to where he is today. Undergoing training for cybersecurity, he was tested in many areas and found the route he wanted to go. We thank Michael for sharing his story with us.

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Dominique West: Security found me. [Strategy] May 16, 2021

Technical account manager Dominique West takes us on her career journey from engineering to cybersecurity. Even though her undergraduate degree was in information systems, Dominique did not learn about cybersecurity until she personally experienced credit card fraud. She had a range of positions from working the help desk in an art museum to vulnerability management and cloud security. Dominique mentions remembering feeling isolated as the only black person and one of few women in many situations. These experiences spurred her into action to create Security in Color to help others navigate their way into cybersecurity and share resources are available to them. Dominique recommends those interested in cybersecurity to go ahead and get your hands dirty out there; figure out what you like and what you don't like and do community. We thank Dominique for sharing her story with us.

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Yatia (Tia) Hopkins: Grit and right place, right time. [Solutions Architecture] May 09, 2021

VP of Global Solutions Architecture at eSentire Tia Hopkins shares her career journey and talks about its beginnings in engineering and pivots into cybersecurity leadership. Tia shares how she liked to take things apart when she was young, including the brand new computer her mother bought her and how she was fascinated by all the pieces of it spread all across her bedroom floor. As she started studying engineering, Tia learned she was more of a technologist than an engineer. Tia got her start in technology without completing her formal education by what she says is "grit and right place, right time." Once she was in a management role, Tia wanted to validate her knowledge, experience, and ability and not only completed her bachelor's degree, but also two master's degrees. Tia recently started an organization to encourage and grow interest, confidence, and leaders of women of color in the field of cybersecurity. We thank Tia for sharing her story with us.

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Jim Zufoletti: Building your experience portfolio. [Entrepreneur] May 02, 2021

CEO and co-founder of SafeGuard Cyber Jim Zufoletti shares his journey starting out as an intrepreneur and transformation into a serial entrepreneur in cybersecurity. Jim shares how he got his feet wet working for others as an intrepreneur and catching the entrepreneurial bug in the mid-90s. He has co-founded a number of companies starting with FreeMarkets, a B2B ecommerce company. After that went public and Jim moved on, he went to business school at the University of Virginia and crossed paths with his future co-founder of SafeGuard Cyber. At UVA, Jim was inspired by a professor who exposed him to the effectuation approach to entrepreneurship, Along those lines, Jim recommends those looking to start a business in cyber build their experience portfolio. Jim took what he learned to help build where he is today. His company helps protect the humans in this new digital world with the current work from home environment. And, we thank Jim for sharing his story with us.

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Marcelle Lee: Cyber sleuth detecting emerging threats. [Research] Apr 25, 2021

Senior security researcher from Secureworks Marcelle Lee shares her career journey into cybersecurity and how she helps solve hard problems in her daily work. Marcelle came into cybersecurity not through any traditional path. She describes her route from a different field and starting in cyber at her local community college through a grant program. Marcelle took full advantage of the opportunities she had and grew her career from there. She recommends finding your specialty, but continue to build other skills. As a woman in the field, she is a strong proponent of diversity and encouraging others to find what excites them. And, we thank Marcelle for sharing her story with us.

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Aviv Grafi: There needs to be fundamental changes in security. [CEO] Apr 18, 2021

CEO and Founder of Votiro Aviv Grafi shares his story from serving as a member of the IDF's intelligence forces to leading his own venture. Aviv says his service in the IDF shaped a lot of his thinking and problem solving. Following his military service, Aviv worked to gain more real world and business experience. Starting his own business as a pentester was where the seeds for what would become Votiro would form. Aviv talks about the roller coaster that you experience when starting your own venture and offers some advice. And, we thank Aviv for sharing his story with us.

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Debra Danielson: Be fearless. [CTO] Apr 11, 2021

Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President, Engineering for Digital Guardian Debra Danielson shares her career journey. From aspirations of becoming an astronaut studying mechanical and aerospace engineering, Finding her first job at a local software company that turned into a long term commitment after it was acquired by another firm. Debra mentions that when she was heads-down programming, there were many women in the field and when she emerged from the cube to take on management and leadership positions, the ratio of women had dropped dramatically. She noted at this time that it took a lot of energy to be different. Debra shared that each time she had challenges in her career, she learned from them. She offers advice of taking risks earlier in your career as you don't know what it could lead to. And, we thank Debra for sharing her story with us.

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Greg Bell: Answer the question of "why?" [Open Source] Apr 04, 2021

Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer for Corelight Greg Bell describes the twists and turns of his career bringing him back to his childhood joy of computers. Working in a myriad of fields from human rights to Hollywood to writing a history of conspiracy belief before pivoting back to technology. Focusing on the relationships within the open source community, Greg works to change and improve the world through his mission-based organization. For those looking to begin their career in cyber, Greg offers that great mentorship and working for great organizations where you can soak in the culture are really important. And, we thank Greg for sharing his story with us.

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Teresa Shea: The challenge of adapting new technologies. [Intelligence] Mar 28, 2021

Vice President of Raytheon's Cyber Offense, Defense Experts Teresa Shea speaks of her journey from math to adapting new technologies on the cutting edge, With a love of math, Teresa was offered a scholarship by the Society of Women Engineering and decided to pursue a degree in electrical engineering. Unsurprisingly, there were few other women in her program, Teresa interned with and then proceeded to work for the National Security Agency becoming their SIGINT director. Following her government career, Teresa worked to help bring new technologies to government through her work at Raytheon. We thank Teresa for sharing her story with us.

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Kevin Magee: Focus on the archer. [CSO] Mar 21, 2021

Chief Security Officer of Microsoft Canada Kevin Magee shares his background as a historian and how it applies to his work in cybersecurity. Likening himself to a dashing Indiana Jones, Kevin talks about how he sees history unfolding and the most interesting things right now are happening in security. Spending time tinkering with things in the university's computer room under the stairs gave way to Kevin's love affair with technology. As Chief Security Officer, Kevin says he uses an analogy: "I think we focus on the arrows, not the the archer" meaning there's too much focus on the attacks rather than the ones mounting them. As a historian and witness to our current history, Kevin sees the changes all affecting cybersecurity. We thank Kevin for sharing his story with us.

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Dinah Davis: Building your network. [R&D] Mar 14, 2021

Coming from her love of math, VP of R&D at Arctic Wolf Networks Dinah Davis shares how she arrived in the cybersecurity industry after finding her niche. Dinah recalls how at a time of indecision, a computer course at university and a job with the Canadian government helped to solidify her career direction. Dinah mentions how "security and cryptography specifically was this perfect mix of real world problem solving and mathematics and computer science all combined into one ball of happiness." Networking played a key role in Dinah's journey. She recommends that those interested in joining the field to go for what they believe in. And, we thank Dinah for sharing her story with us.

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Stephen Hamilton: Getting the mission to the next level. [Military] Mar 07, 2021

Army Cyber Institute Technical Director and Chief of Staff Colonel Stephen Hamilton takes us on his computer science journey. Fascinated with computers since the second grade, Stephen chose West Point after high school to study computer science. Following graduation he moved into the signal branch as it most closely matched his interest in ham radio as no branch related directly to computing. He was pulled from the motor pool to help with another area's computing needs and then worked his way to teaching computer science at. West Point and US Cyber Command. Stephen recommends coding it first to help realize the nuances, and then code it again. We thank Stephen for sharing his story with us.

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Aarti Borkar: Make your own choices. [Product] Feb 28, 2021

Head of Product for IBM Security Aarti Borkar shares her journey which included going after her lifelong love of math rather than following in her parents' footsteps in the medical field. In following her passions, Aarti found herself studying computer engineering and computer science, and upon taking a pause from her studies, she found a niche working at IBM in a mix of databases and networking. In her current position, Aarti describes her favorite discussion topics very often involve being around the use of AI for converting security into predictive domains. Aarti reminds us that you should pause and see if you are on the right path. Staying on a path just because you started there can be a bad idea. And, we thank Aarti for sharing her story.

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Billy Wilson: Translating language skills to technical skills. [HPC] Feb 21, 2021

High Performance Computing Systems Administrator at Brigham Young University Billy Wilson tells his cybersecurity career story translating language skills to technical skills. According to Billy's employer, moving to a technical position at his alma mater occurred because Billy showed this potential and a thirst for learning. He is currently pursuing his master's degree from SANS Technology Institute for Information Security Engineering while working to secure BYU's data for their computationally-intensive research. Billy notes that not everyone has one overarching passion which gives him variety in his work. And, we thank Billy for sharing his story with us.

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Dr. Jessica Barker: Cybersecurity has a huge people element to it. [Socio-technical] Feb 14, 2021

Co-founder and socio-technical lead at Cygenta, Dr. Jessica Barker, shares her story from childhood career aspirations of becoming a farmer to her accidental pivot to working in cybersecurity. With a PhD in civic design, Jessica looked at the creation of social and civic places until she was approached by a cybersecurity consultancy interested in the human side of cybersecurity. She jumped in and the rest is history. Having experienced some negativity as a woman in cybersecurity, Jessica is a strong proponent of diversity in the field. She suggests that newcomers to the industry follow what interests them and jump in. And, we thank Jessica for sharing her story with us.

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Jason Clark: Challenge the way things are done. [Strategy] Feb 07, 2021

Chief strategy officer and chief security officer for Netskope, Jason Clark, shares his journey as he challenges the status quo and works to expand diversity in cybersecurity. Jason started his career by breaking the mold and heading to the Air Force rather than his family legacy of Army service. Following his military service, he became a CISO for the New York Times at age 26 and kept building from there. Jason advises, "You should always be seeking out jobs you're actually not qualified for. I think that's how you grow. If you know you could do the job, and you've got half the skills, go for it." Jason aspires to a legacy of increasing diversity in the cybersecurity industry and founded a non-profit to do just that. And, we thank Jason for sharing his story with us.

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Kyla Guru: You are a key piece to our national security. [Education] Jan 31, 2021

Founder and CEO of nonprofit Bits N' Bytes Cybersecurity Education and undergraduate student at Stanford University, Kyla Guru shares her journey from GenCyber Camp to becoming a cybersecurity thought leader. Seeing the need. for cybersecurity education in her own community spurred Kyla into action engaging our civilian population in understanding their role in the cybersecurity space. Kyla recommends putting yourself out there: taking courses, getting more knowledge, getting internships, meeting people and going to conferences. Kyla thinks her generation has an inquisitive mind and feels that is where advocacy and education come in with cybersecurity. She shares for any young person "thinking about maybe starting something in security, this is definitely the time to do so." And, we thank Kyla for sharing her story with us.

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Ben Yelin: A detour could be a sliding door moment. [Policy] Jan 24, 2021

Program Director for Public Policy and External Affairs at the University of Maryland's Center for Health and Homeland Security Ben Yelin shares his journey from political junkie to Fourth Amendment specialist. Several significant life defining political developments like the disputed 2000 election, 9/11, and the Iraqi war occurred during his formative years that shaped Ben's interest in public policy and his desire to pursue a degree in law. An opportunity to be a teaching assistant turned out to be one of those sliding door scenarios that led Ben to where he is now, a lawyer in the academic and consulting worlds specializing in cybersecurity and digital privacy issues. Through his work, Ben hopes to elevate the course of the debate on these very important issues. And, we thank Ben for sharing his story with us.

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Ann Johnson: Trying to make the world safer. [Business Development] Jan 17, 2021

Microsoft's Corporate Vice President of Cybersecurity Business Development Ann Johnson brings us on her career journey from aspiring lawyer to cybersecurity executive. After pivoting from studying law, Ann started working with computers and found she had a deep technical aptitude for technology and started earning certifications landing in cybersecurity because she found an interest in PKI. At Microsoft, Ann says she solves some of the hardest problems every day. She recommends getting a mentor and finding your area of expertise. She leaves us with three dimensions she hopes to be her legacy: 1. diversity in more than just gender, 2. bringing a human aspect to the industry, and 3. being empathetic to the user experience. We thank Ann for sharing her story with us.

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Tom Gorup: Fail fast and fail forward. [Operations] Jan 10, 2021

Vice President of Security and Support Operations of Alert Logic Tom Gorup shares how his career path led him from tactics learned in Army infantry using machine guns and claymores to cybersecurity replacing the artillery with antivirus and firewalls. Tom built a security automation solution called the Grunt (in recollection of his role in the Army) that automated firewall blocks. He credits his experience in battle-planning for his expertise in applying strategic thinking to work in cybersecurity, noting that communication is key in both scenarios. Tom advises that those looking into a new career shouldn't shy away from failure as failure is just another opportunity to learn. We thank Tom for sharing his story with us.

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Ellen Sundra: Actions speak louder than words. [Engineering] Jan 03, 2021

Vice President of Global Systems Engineering Ellen Sundra shares her career path from life as a college grad who found her niche by creating a training program to a leader in cybersecurity. She realized that training and educating people was her passion. Ellen sees her value in providing soft skills as a natural balance to her technical team at Forescout Technologies. Being a woman in a male-dominated world proved to be a challenge and gaining her confidence to share her unique point of view helped her excel in it. Ellen recommends keeping your eyes open for how your skill set fits into cybersecurity. Find your perspective and really embrace it! We thank Ellen for sharing her story with us.

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Encore: Selena Larson: The Green Goldfish and cyber threat intelligence. [Analyst] (Career Notes] Dec 27, 2020

Cyber threat intelligence analyst Selena Larson takes us on her career journey from being a journalist to making the switch to industrial security. As a child who wrote a book about a green goldfish who dealt with bullying, Selena always liked investigating and researching things. Specializing in cybersecurity journalism led to the realization of how closely aligned or similar skills are required from an investigative journalist and a cyber threat intelligence analyst. Our thanks to Selena for sharing her story with us.

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Robert Lee: Keeping the lights on. [ICS] Dec 20, 2020

CEO and co-founder of Dragos Robert Lee talks about how he came to cybersecurity through industrial control systems. Growing up with parents in the Air Force, Robert's father tried to steer him away from military service. Still Rob chose to attend the Air Force Academy where he had greater exposure to computers through ICS. Robert finds his interest lies in things that impact the physical world around us. In his work, Dragos focuses on identifying what people are doing bad and helping people understand how to defend against that. Rob describes the possibility of making a jump to control system security from another area recommending you bring something to the table. Rob talks about the world he would like to leave to his son and his hopes for the future. We thank Rob for sharing his story with us.

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Andrea Little Limbago: Look at the intersection of the of humans and technology. [Social Science] Dec 13, 2020

Computational Social Scientist Andrea Little Limbago shares her journey as a social scientist in cybersecurity. Andrea laments that she wishes she'd known there is no straight line between what you think you want to do and then where you end up going. Beginning her career in international relations and courted by the Department of Defense's Joint Warfare Analysis Center while teaching at New York University, Andrea began her work in cybersecurity. Her team was one of the first to start thinking about the intersection of cybersecurity and geopolitics and quantitative modeling. Andrea reminds us there are many paths and skills needed in cybersecurity and hopes she's opened some doors for others. We thank Andrea for sharing her story with us.

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Ron Brash: Problem fixer in critical infrastructure. [OT] Dec 06, 2020

Director of Cyber Security Insights at Verve Industrial aka self-proclaimed industrial cybersecurity geek Ron Brash shares his journey through the industrial cybersecurity space. From taking his parents 286s and 386s to task to working for the "OG of industrial cybersecurity," Ron has pushed limits. Starting off in technical testing, racing through university at 2x speed, and taking a detour through neuroscience with machine learning, Ron decided to return to critical infrastructure working with devices that keep the lights on and the water flowing. Ron hopes his work makes an impact and his life is memorable for those he cares about. We thank Ron for sharing his story with us.

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Camille Stewart: Technology becomes more of an equalizer. [Legal] Nov 29, 2020

Cybersecurity attorney Camille Stewart shares how her childhood affinity for making contracts pointed to her eventual career as an attorney. Having a computer scientist father contributed to Camille's technical acumen and desire to include technology in her life's work. Camille has worked various facets of cybersecurity law from the private sector, federal government, on the Hill and in the Executive Branch, and now as part of Big Tech as Head of Security Policy and Election Integrity for Google Play and Android where she creates policy geared towards making sure users are safe on their platform and equipped to make informed decisions.. We thank Camille for sharing her story with us.

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James Hadley: Spend time on what interests you. [CEO] Nov 22, 2020

Founder and CEO of Immersive Labs James Hadley takes us through his career path from university to cybersecurity startup. James tells us about his first computer and how he liked to push it to its limits and then some. He joined GCHQ after college and consulted across government departments. Teaching in GCHQ's cyber summer school was where James felt a shift in his career. As a company founder, he shares that he is very driven, very fast and also very caring. James offers advice to those looking to get into the industry recommending they chase what interests them rather than certifications. We thank James for sharing his story with us.

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Malek Ben Salem: Taking those challenges. [R&D] Nov 15, 2020

Americas Security R&D Lead for Accenture Malek Ben Salem shares how she pivoted from her love of math and background in electrical engineering to a career in cybersecurity R&D. Malek talks about her interest in astrophysics as a young girl, and how her affinity for math and taking on challenges lead her to a degree in electrical engineering. She grew her career using math for data mining and forecasting eventually pursuing a masters and PhD in computer science where she shifted her focus to cybersecurity. Malek now develops and applies new AI techniques to solve security problems at Accenture. We thank Malek for sharing her story with us.

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Richard Clarke: From presidential inspiration to cybersecurity policy pioneer. [Policy] Nov 08, 2020

CEO and consultant Richard Clarke took his inspiration from President John F Kennedy and turned it into the first cybersecurity position in federal government. Determined to help change the mindset of war, Richard went to work for the Department of Defense at the Pentagon following college during the Vietnam War. From Assistant Secretary of the State Department, he moved to the White House to work for President George W. Bush's administration where he kept an eye on Al-Qaeda and was tasked to take on cybersecurity. Lacking any books or courses to give him a basic understanding of cybersecurity, Richard made it his mission to raise the level of cybersecurity knowledge. Currently as Chairman and CEO at Good Harbor Security Risk Management, Richard advises CISOs. We thank Richard for sharing his story with us.

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Carole Theriault: Constantly learning new things. [Media] Nov 01, 2020

Communications consultant and podcaster Carole Theriault always loved radio and through her career dabbled in many areas .She landed in a communications and podcasting role where she helps technical firms create audio and digital content. In fact, Carole is the CyberWire's UK Correspondent. She says cybersecurity is good place to go because of the many different avenues available and "you don't even have to be a tech head" (though Carole has quite a technical pedigree). Our thanks to Carole for sharing her story with us.

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The Malware Mash! Oct 30, 2020

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Sal Aurigemma: How things work. [Education] Oct 25, 2020

Associate Professor of Computer Information Systems at the University of Tulsa Sal Aurigemma shares how his interest in how things worked shaped his career path in nuclear power and computers, Being introduced to computers in high school and learning about the Chernobyl event led Sal to study nuclear engineering followed by time in the Navy as a submarine officer. On the submarine, Sal had to understand how systems worked from soup to nuts and that let him back to IT. As a computer engineer, Sal spent a lot of time on network troubleshooting and was eventually introduced to cybersecurity. Following 9/11, cybersecurity took on greater importance. Sal's research focuses on behavioral cybersecurity. To newcomers, he suggests heading into things with an open mind and doesn't recommend giving users 24-character passwords that have two upper, two lower, and two special characters that cannot be written down. We thank Sal for sharing his story with us.

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Rosa Smothers: Secure the planet. [Intelligence] Oct 18, 2020

Senior VP of Cyber Operations at KnowBe4, Rosa Smothers, talks about her career as an early cybersecurity professional in what she describes as the Wild, Wild West to her path through government intelligence work. Rosa shares how she always knew she wanted to be involved with computers and how being a big Star Trek nerd and fan particularly of Spock and Uhura helped shape her direction. Following 9/11, Rosa wanted to work for the government and pursue the bad guys and she did just that completing her bachelor's degree and starting in the Defense Intelligence Agency as a cyber threat analyst focusing on extremist groups. She joined the CIA and worked on things you see in the movies, things that are science fictionesque. Rosa recommends talking with people to get your feet wet to find your passion. We thank Rosa for sharing her story with us.

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Geoff White: Suddenly all of the pieces start to line up. [Journalism] Oct 11, 2020

Investigative journalist and author Geoff White talks about tracing a line through the dots of his career covering technology. Geoff shares that he has always been "quite geeky," but came to covering technology after several roles in the journalism industry. Newspapers, magazines and television were all media Geoff worked in before covering technology. Geoff got into journalism not due to the glamour sometimes associated with it, but because he wanted to fight for the public to cover stories that helped those who didn't have massive amounts of money, power or a huge lobbying campaign in political circles. When writing his book, Crime Dot Com, Geoff reflected on the cybercrime and cybersecurity stories he's covered and saw how things started falling into place. Our thanks to Geoff for sharing his story with us.

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Diane M. Janosek: It's only together that we are going to rise. [Education] Oct 04, 2020

Commandant for the National Security Agency's National Cryptologic School Diane M. Janosek shares the story of her career going global Diane explains how she's always been drawn to doing things that could help and raise the nation. From a position as a law clerk during law school, to the role of a judicial clerk, and joining the White House Counsel's office, Diane was exposed to many things and felt she experienced the full circle. Moving on to the Pentagon and finally, the NSA, Diane transitioned into her current role where she orchestrates the educational environment for military and civilian cyber and cryptologists worldwide for the nation. Diane encourages those who love to learn to join the multidisciplinary cybersecurity field. Our thanks to Diane for sharing her story with us.

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Richard Torres: Getting that level of experience is going to be crucial. [Security Operations] Sep 27, 2020

Director of security operations at Syntax Richard Torres talks about his path leading him working in juvenile justice to becoming a private investigator to physical security at a nuclear power plant to cybersecurity presently. Always a fan of police shows, Richard became a member of the Air Force Junior ROTC in high school and began his path there. Richard shares the challenges of working in several facets of the security industry including his transition from SWAT team member to cybersecurity. He notes the role that diplomacy plays when you're trying to get honesty and be steered in the right direction. Our thanks to Richard for sharing his story with us.

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Monica Ruiz: Moving ahead when not many look like you. [Policy] Sep 20, 2020

Cyber Initiative and Special Projects Fellow at the Hewlett Foundation Monica Ruiz shares her career development from aspirations of being a weather woman to her current role as a grantmaker and connector in cybersecurity. Monica discusses how her international study experience changed her outlook and brought her to the field of security. She shares the difficulties she faced as a woman of color when when not that many people look like you, and how she used that as her reason to move forward and better the cybersecurity field through her work. Our thanks to Monica for sharing her story with us.

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Brandon Robinson: Built from the ground up. [Sales Engineer] Sep 13, 2020

Cybersecurity Sales Engineer Brandon Robinson shares how he built his career in technology and the barriers he experienced along the way. He talks about how his job involves him interacting with customers at the highest levels making sure their solution is meeting needs. In addition, Brandon describes how as a black man and a trailblazer, he's been met with resistance. His positive spin on moving ahead involves relying on himself. Brandon's advice: find your passion, don't be intimidated and you will be met with success. Our thanks to Brandon for sharing his story with us.

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Elizabeth Wharton: Strong shoulders for someone else to stand on. [Legal] Sep 06, 2020

Technology attorney and startup chief of staff Elizabeth Wharton shares her experiences and how she came to work with companies in technology. Elizabeth talks about how she always liked solving problems and Nancy Drew mysteries, but not litigation. These morphed finding into her home in the policy legal world and some time later, technology law. Elizabeth describes how she loves planning and strategy in her work and encourages others to ask questions and absorb all of the information. Our thanks to Elizabeth for sharing her story with us.

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Jack Rhysider: Get your experience points in everything. [Media] Aug 30, 2020

Host of Darknet Diaries podcast Jack Rhysider shares his experiences from studying computer engineering at university to his strategy of using gamification on his career that led to him landing in the security space. Jack talks about how his wide experiences came together in security and what prompted him to learn podcasting. Jack endeavors to share the whole story through his podcasts while making them entertaining, enlightening and inspirational. Our thanks to Jack for sharing his story with us.

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Kiersten Todt: problem solving and building solutions. [Policy] Aug 23, 2020

Managing director of the Cyber Readiness Institute Kiersten Todt shares how she came to be in the cybersecurity industry helping to provide free tools and resources for small businesses through a nonprofit. She describes how her work on the Hill prior to and just after 9/11 changed. Kiersten talks about the diversity of skills that benefit work in cybersecurity and offers her advice on going after what you want to do. Our thanks to Kiersten for sharing her story with us.

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Stu Sjouwerman: Trying for a win, win, win game. [CEO] Aug 16, 2020

Founder and CEO Stu Sjouwerman takes us on a journey of how his career developed from starting a software service company to currently focusing on the infosec side of the business where his team essentially helps to create human firewalls. Stu talks about learning all aspects of the business while creating startups and suggests you learn to speak the language of the area you are looking to get into. He even touches on predicting the future and taking over the world. Our thanks to Stu for sharing his story with us.

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Selena Larson: The Green Goldfish and cyber threat intelligence. [Analyst] Aug 09, 2020

Cyber threat intelligence analyst Selena Larson takes us on her career journey from being a journalist to making the switch to industrial security. As a child who wrote a book about a green goldfish who dealt with bullying, Selena always liked investigating and researching things. Specializing in cybersecurity journalism led to the realization of how closely aligned or similar skills are required from an investigative journalist and a cyber threat intelligence analyst. Our thanks to Selena for sharing her story with us.

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Chris Cochran: Rely on your strengths in the areas of the unknown. [Engineering] Aug 02, 2020

Director of Security Engineering at Marqeta and Host of Hacker Valley Studio podcast Chris Cochran describes his transitions throughout the cybersecurity industry, from an intelligence job with the Marine Corps, to starting the intelligence apparatus for the House of Representatives, then on to leading Netflix's threat intelligence capability. Chris points out that when pivoting to different roles and responsibilities, you must rely on your own strengths to move forward and bring value to your work Our thanks to Chris for sharing his story with us.

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Dominique Shelton Leipzig: No matter the statistics, even if against the odds, focus on what you want. [Legal] Jul 26, 2020

Privacy and data security lawyer, Dominique Shelton Leipzig shares that she has always wanted to be a lawyer, ever since she was a little girl. She talks about what her role is with clients in protecting and managing their data, sometimes adhering to up to 134 different data protection laws for global companies. Learn that not a lot has changed for an African-American woman partner at an Amlaw 100 firm as far as diversity during Dominique's career, and how Dominique suggests young lawyers should address those odds. Our thanks to Dominque for sharing her story with us.

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Graham Cluley: Have to be able to communicate to everybody. [Media] Jul 19, 2020

Computer security writer, podcaster and public speaker Graham Cluley describes learning to program on his own from magazines, creating text adventure games for donations, and his journey from programming to presenting and writing with a bit of tap dancing on the side. Along the way, Graham collaborated with others and learned to communicate so that all could understand, not just techies. Our thanks to Graham for sharing his story with us.

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Bilyana Lilly: Turn challenges into opportunities. [Policy] Jul 12, 2020

Cybersecurity and disinformation researcher Bilyana Lilly shares her career path from studying where she was always a foreigner to an expert on the Russian perspective. While studying international law in Kosovo, Bilyana realized there are no winners in war. Through her work, she hopes to bring a greater understanding of Russia's strategic thinking. Our thanks to Bilyana for sharing her story with us.

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Matt Devost: Solving hard problems and pursuing your passions. [CEO] Jul 05, 2020

CEO, Matt Devost, describes many firsts in his career including hacking into systems on an aircraft carrier at sea. He shares how he enjoys solving hard problems and the red teamer perspective, and how he was able to translate those into a career. For those interested in cybersecurity, Matt advises opportunities for self-directed learning including heading down to your basement and building your own lab. Our thanks to Matt for sharing his story with us.

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Kathleen Booth: Get your foot in the door and prove your worth. [Marketing] Jun 28, 2020

Vice President of Marketing, Kathleen Booth, shares her career path from political science and international development to marketing for a cybersecurity company. Early dreams of acting morphed into goals of making the world a better place. Chief marketer and podcaster Kathleen is doing just that. She shares how proving your worth can lead to success. Listen for Kathleen's advice on getting your foot in the door. Our thanks to Kathleen for sharing her story with us.

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Johannes Ullrich: Superhero origin stories and lessons that last. [Education] Jun 21, 2020

Dean of Research, Johannes Ullrich, relays his experiences from studying the hard sciences to his career shift to cybersecurity. Basic principles, superhero origin stories, physics labs and radiation all figure in. And there’s a lot in common with network security best practices. Have a listen to what Johannes has learned and what he hopes to impart on his students. Our thanks to Johannes for sharing his story with us.

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Tom Quinn: The mark of making a difference. [CISO] Jun 14, 2020

Financial firm CISO, Tom Quinn, takes us from his first experience with modern computers in the military to his current role as a Chief Information Security Officer. It's important to understand how the technology works, but it's also important to understand how people work. And, to make a difference. Our thanks to Tom for sharing his story with us.

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Tracy Maleeff: Ask more people to dance. [Analyst] Jun 07, 2020

Cyber analyst, Tracy Maleeff, shares her unexpected journey from the library to cybersecurity and offers advice for those both seeking to make a change and those doing the hiring. It's not just about the invitation, it's more than that. Our thanks to Tracy for sharing her story with us.

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