See It To Be It Spotlight

As a veteran, I got into cybersecurity…by way of the U.S. Army. I was an Army communicator, started with designing and deploying tactical networks, which led to managing garrison networks, which led to “how do you secure these things?”  which led to commanding the Army CERT where I coordinated offensive and defensive operations for the U.S. Army in the early 2000s.

For me, a positive cyber mindset is…helping my bosses understand the material cyber risk to the organization and giving them options on how to reduce that risk.

The skill that helped me most in my cybersecurity career is…the ability to explain really complex things to smart people but who don’t have the experience in my area. That translates to learning how to tell stories in simple, concise, but meaningful ways. That means you have to practice and by practice you have to speak in public and write; not just once in a while, but all the time. You have to get the reps in. When newbies ask me how to practice, I always give them a homework assignment. Take a famous cyber paper, like the 2010 Lockheed Martin Kill Chain paper. It’s about 20 pages long, not that technical. Write a half page summary about the paper that your grandma can understand. When you can do that, you will have a rewarding cybersecurity career.

I would tell my younger self…to read more books.

My top tip to those interested in transitioning to a cybersecurity career path is…you don’t have to learn everything at once. Pick something that is interesting to you and read a book about it. Study it. Wallow in it. Write about it. It is my experience that if you have read one book on a topic, you are likely the smartest person in the room on that topic because, you know, nobody reads books anymore. Read two books on that topic and you’re likely in a small group of 500 or so experts in the world on that topic.

𝗜 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲…sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most.

That people are basically good;

that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything;

that power and money, money and power mean nothing;

that good always triumphs over evil;

and I want you to remember this, that love…true love never dies.

You remember that, boy. You remember that. Doesn’t matter if it’s true or not.

You see, a man should believe in those things, because those are the things worth believing in.

— From my favorite movie, Second Hand Lions

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 career 𝗶𝘀…Mark McLaughlin who was my CEO and boss at Palo Alto Networks. He wanted to make the company successful for sure, but he also thought that we could also make the world a better place in some small way. For example, under his guidance, we donated millions of dollars to the Girl Scouts to help them build a cyber badge program. We helped found the first ever vendor ISAC.

My recommended read for cyber is…

Clifford Stoll, 1989. The Cuckoo’s Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage [Book].

Cybersecurity Canon Review: https://cybercanon.org/the-cuckoos-egg/

Goodreads URL: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18154.The_Cuckoo_s_Egg

Buy URL: https://amzn.to/3JWAhsb or

https://bookshop.org/a/119420/9781416507789

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘄 𝘂𝗽 𝘄𝗮𝘀…I got into cyber because I was into computers. I got into computers because I wanted to play games. I still play Fortnite every night getting my ass handed to me by a bunch of 7 year olds.

𝗠𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀…somewhere near a beach, in the shade, reading a book.

𝗠𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀…in Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird,” one of my favorite scenes from the book captures the essence of Atticus Finch. The next-door lady, Miss Maudie, is talking to Atticus’s son about the significance of the court case to the town and to his father.

“I simply want to tell you that there are some men in this world who were born to do our unpleasant jobs for us. Your father’s one of them.”

“Oh,” said Jem. “Well.”

“Don’t you oh well me, sir,” Miss Maudie replied, recognizing Jem’s fatalistic noises, “you are not old enough to appreciate what I said.”

Jem was staring at his half-eaten cake. “It’s like bein’ a caterpillar in a cocoon, that’s what it is,” he said. “Like somethin’ asleep wrapped up in a warm place. I always thought Maycomb folks were the best folks in the world, least that’s what they seemed like.”

“We’re the safest folks in the world,” said Miss Maudie. “We’re so rarely called on to be Christians, but when we are, we’ve got men like Atticus to go for us.” 

Atticus Finch has been my hero for as long as I can remember. When I run into moral decisions in my own personal life, I have always asked myself, “What would Atticus Finch do?” I don’t always follow his advice, but after and without fail, I realize that I should have.

𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘀…I’ve been to Comic Con not once, but twice. I had a blast.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗨𝗪𝗜𝗖? I get to interact with a local group of people that I don’t normally get to be around. It’s a wonderful opportunity.