In the latest episode of the Security Stories podcast, we take on the topic of cybersecurity careers.

Myself, Ben Nahorney and Noureen Njoroge are joined by guests Mitch Neff, Marketing Lead at Cisco Talos, and Corien Vermaak, Cybersecurity Partner Sales Lead for Cisco APJC.

We each discuss on how we all got our starts in the cybersecurity industry. As it turns out, none of us took a conventional path!

The five of us also talk about the people and the mentors that helped us along the way, including some practical advice for anyone who wants to be a mentor, or gain a mentor.

We then passionately tackle the topic of job descriptions and why they might be contributing to the so called “cybersecurity skills gap”. We also talk about what hiring managers can do to make sure they’re not putting the right people off with their words.

The interview

For our main interview, I had the pleasure of chatting to Curtis Simpson, Chief Information Security Officer at Armis to discover his story.

A self taught cybersecurity geek, Curtis spent 20 years at Sysco, building a decentralized network before moving to Armis.

Curis talks about how he changed perceptions of cybersecurity being “just a cost centre”. He gave some great examples of how cybersecurity is directly tied to business outcomes, such as the productivity of the sales team.

He also touches on just how difficult a decision it was to leave after 20 years, but ultimately he knew it was the right thing.

Finally, we discuss how his organization has reacted to the global pandemic, and I learn about Curtis’ take on the current threat landscape, particularly around securing IoT devices.

We hope this episode proves that that there is no singular footpath into cybersecurity.  And that’s no bad thing.

Time stamps

0.00 Intro
3.46 Interview with Curtis Simpson
47.26 Discussion on careers in cybersecurity
1.42.00 Close

Play the episode

You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you normally get your podcasts from! You can also listen right here and now:

More career related resources

Here are some more resources as mentioned in our careers discussion:

Noureen’s cybersecurity mentoring hub: https://cybersecmentorship.org
Noureen’s mentor and mentee group on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8673525/
Cisco NetAcademy courses: https://www.netacad.com/courses/cybersecurity
Blue Team Village Discord of which Talos are a sponsor: https://discord.com/invite/blueteamvillage

Also check out our just published eBook: Diversity in Cybersecurity: A Mosaic of Career Possibilities

The post Podcast: Taking the unconventional career path in cybersecurity appeared first on Cisco Blogs.