Cybersecurity and IT Essentials, Cyber Defense
Explore content featuring this instructor’s insights and expertise.
This talk is about how to bootstrap almost anything, whether it’s a company, an open source project, a personal pursuit, a charity, a conference, or just about anything else.
Want to make a real impact in infosec? This session explores the startup path, covering ideas, funding options, and exit strategies, helping security professionals understand how to turn innovation into a high-growth, disruptive business.
You don’t need to be an expert, or a great writer, to publish an infosec book. This session breaks down what to write, how to get published, and how to make your work matter in a rapidly evolving field.
Technical Skills are Essential, But Geek will only get you so far
Some of us are so effective, and so well known, that the term “Rock Star” truly applies. What skills do these Rock Stars possess, and what do aspiring Rock Stars need to develop?
This talk is about how to bootstrap almost anything, whether it’s a company, an open source project, a personal pursuit, a charity, a conference, or just about anything else.
Register for the SANS 2025 SOC Survey webcast today and learn how to use results from this year’s survey to inform and recalibrate your near-term plans and long-term goals.
Starting a consulting career isn’t difficult. Many people do it successfully in the short term. So, what do consultants who have built sustainable, thriving careers do differently?
Many people want to consult so they can choose their work, have more freedom, and have more opportunities to make great money. Yet many never start or start late.
We are lucky in Infosec. It may not be an easy field to get into, but once you’re in infosec, there is plenty of work available and many work models.
What are the critical skills that extremely successful infosec professionals need, and how can we develop these? Obviously, technology matters, but it's not just about technology.
The classic way to make a massive difference with technology, or “Dent in The Universe,” is via a startup. We can define a startup as a company with high growth possibilities that is innovative and potentially disruptive. This describes most startups in the infosec space. In this talk we’ll discuss startups, including how important having a “great idea” may or may not be, funding options, as well as “exit” strategies.
Join us for this expert-led webcast to explore how to implement and evolve a Defense-in-Depth (DiD) strategy tailored to your organization’s risk profile, infrastructure, and cloud environment.
Becoming a successful consultant seems like a dream: high pay, freedom, and fascinating work. These can all be true yet there is more to the reality: as a consultant you are running a business, and you need clients!
The classic way to make a massive difference with technology, or “Dent in The Universe,” is via a startup. We can define a startup as a company with high growth possibilities that is innovative and potentially disruptive. This describes most startups in the infosec space. Also, essentially every startup has a strong technology component today and infosec concerns. This translates to lots of startup opportunities for infosec professionals, whether as a founder, early-stage employee, rank and file employee, or even investor. In this talk we’ll discuss startups, including how important having a “great idea” may or may not be, funding options, as well as “exit” strategies. Funding options include bootstrapping, which means using existing resources, starting a business without external help or capital. Angel investors, affluent individuals who provide capital for a startup, are another option, as are venture capitalists, and crowd sourcing. An exit strategy is how illiquid assets like company ownership and stock are changed into liquid assets like cash. Even if you do not plan on exiting the company, you may want to convert some assets to cash. And of course any investors will want their money back with profits at some point. If you are focused on outcomes instead of inputs, a startup can be absolutely fantastic. If you are happy hacking more than just technology, but also happy to figure out and execute business concerns, such as hacking procedures and whatever it takes to make things work, a startup is an option to consider.
We are lucky in Infosec. It may not be an easy field to get into, but once in infosec there is plenty of work available and many work models. Most start out as a full time employee. You have a job and work for one organization. You can also be a contractor. Most contractors have one contract with one client at a time, and the terms of remuneration are different than a full time employee and generally one has more freedom. You can also be an independent consultant, which is very different from a contractor although there is overlap. Consultants generally have multiple clients, the ability to earn more money, and far more freedom but not the alleged stability of a longer term contract or full time job. And of course there are also hybrid models as well. In this talk we discuss these work models and their strengths and weaknesses. Which is ideal for you? You may have a different opinion afterwards!
The hard skills required to be successful in the cyber security industry are constantly evolving. The evolution of technology and the ever-evolving threat landscape have contributed to a new world of hard skills cyber security professions need to be well versed. Acquiring additional skills will not only help you better protect your organization, but also help grow your successful career in this dynamic industry. Knowing what skills to acquire can be overwhelming when you do not know where to start.
What are the critical skills that extremely successful infosec professionals need and how can we develop these? Obviously, technology matters but it's not just about technology. In Ted Demopoulos' research, talking to, interviewing, and basically spending time with infosec professionals that are so successful that the moniker “Rock Star" is sometimes entirely appropriate, he has distilled 5 critical professional, and sometimes, life skills. This talk covers these 5 skills with plenty of practice advice.
Of course, there are serious problems we are confronting now, and some people and businesses are not doing well. Yet some people and businesses are doing alright, and some are actually thriving.While luck certainly does play a role, what can we do to maximize the probability of coming out of this better than before? Obviously sitting on the couch, watching TV and lamenting what is happening doesn't help, and saying "take care of yourself, stay healthy" and other platitudes only goes so far.This talk covers concrete things you can do to weather the pandemic and thrive, both during and afterwards. Included is a planning template along with the slides so you can make your plan along with Ted.Some of us are taking this as an opportunity to reboot ourselves and our careers and come back better than ever. You should too!
