Meredith Wallace
I got into cyber through…Cyber found me! I do not consider myself a technical expert, nor is it my passion, and yet we live in a digitalized world where cyber threats and opportunities are ubiquitous. I found my way into cyber working in national security and was recruited by an executive who offered me an […]
Jeffrey Mims
I got into cyber…as a byproduct of building software in the early 90s, before personal computers had any security to speak of. I really enjoyed writing encryption software, something I came back to several times in my career. Several years later, I was working on networks where the profound lack of security was more obvious, […]
Crystal Hartman
I got into cyber through…My journey into cybersecurity began in 2018 during my previous role—ironically, as a customer of Haystack Solutions. Cyber wasn’t a career path I had ever considered, and to be honest, my first year felt like an uphill battle. Trying to make sense of the 1s and 0s, endless acronyms (APT, TTPs, […]
Michael C. Dickey
How did you get into cyber…I stumbled into cyber partway through my Coast Guard career. Although my degrees are in Electrical Engineering, and I spent much of my career on ships, I moved through a few jobs in IT to a position where I was responsible for the Coast Guard’s IT infrastructure. The cybersecurity challenges […]
Dr. Joseph J. Burt-Miller Jr.
I got into cyber…before I knew what cyber was. My uncle exposed me to IT while growing up in NY. He lived in NJ at the time, so I always enjoyed the mini-road trips to visit. He worked in IT at the time and taught me a lot from watching him work on keyboards, PC […]
Cristine Gollayan
I got into cyber through…I started out as a Software Engineer coding COBOL to prepare for Y2K. I learned about the entire software development lifecycle in a very large company and I believe it was this technical foundation that allowed me to enter a small private cybersecurity firm and understand the security concepts and foundation […]
Debora A. Plunkett
I got into cyber…while working at the National Security Agency, where I worked on both the intelligence and the defensive (cyber) missions for over 30 years. For me, a positive cyber mindset is…curious, collaborative, probing, innovative, hopeful but realistic. The work experience that helped me transition to a career in cyber was…two-fold. First, a tour […]
Lynsey Caldwell
I got into cyber…because of my passion for criminal justice and solving mysteries. I wanted to fuse that passion with technology. Early in my career, I worked in IT and systems engineering roles, where I learned how pivotal people are in protecting systems. Over time, I realized that while technology is critical, it’s the human […]
Dr. Diana B. Allen
I got into cyber…because I’ve always been fascinated by the intersection of technology and how it can be used to solve business problems. Early in my career, I realized how critical cybersecurity is in protecting the systems that power our daily lives. That realization inspired me to explore the field more deeply, and now I […]
Jesse Peoples
I got into cyber…by embracing stretch assignments and leveraging upskilling opportunities. My academic foundation includes a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s in Systems Engineering, with a focus on technology management. My cyber journey began in Enterprise IT Management at a large civilian federal agency, where I led digital transformation initiatives; introducing novel tools, […]