Exploring Information Security - Exploring Information Security
Timothy De Block
100 episodes
1 day ago
Summary:
In this episode, Timothy De Block sits down with a panel of cybersecurity leaders—Chris Anderson, Roger Brotz, and Mike Vetri—to discuss the realities of moving from "boots on the ground" technical roles to senior leadership. The conversation explores the challenges of letting go of the keyboard, the critical importance of emotional intelligence, and why "empathy" is a high-performance tool in a high-stress industry.
Meet the Panel
Chris Anderson: Security Consultant and Architect known for his "pot-stirring" approach to solving complex organizational security problems.
Roger Brotz: CISO at Arcadia Healthcare with over four decades of experience, starting his journey in 1977.
Mike Vetri: Senior Director of Security Operations at Veeva and former Air Force cyber operations officer.
Main Topics & Key Takeaways
The "Passion" to Lead
The panel dives into the true meaning of leadership, noting that the word "passion" stems from the Latin word for "suffering". Leading a cyber team means being willing to suffer through mistakes and high-pressure incidents alongside your team.
Empathy as a Business Metric
Mike shares a pivotal study indicating that leaders who embrace emotional intelligence and empathy often exceed their annual revenue goals by 20%. Conversely, a lack of empathy directly correlates to high burnout and employee turnover.
Learning to Fail Fast
The leaders recount personal failures, from failing to recognize team burnout during 16-hour-a-day incident responses to the "pride" of holding onto technical tasks for too long. They emphasize that failure is not a roadblock but a necessary inflection point for growth.
Bridging the Gap: Technical vs. Business
A major challenge for new leaders is translating "this is bad" into actionable business risk. Leaders must learn to speak the language of the boardroom, focusing on profit protection and risk management rather than just technical vulnerabilities.
Actionable Advice for Aspiring Leaders
Set Boundaries Early: Don't let your job intrude on your personal life until it's too late; once you establish a habit of always being available, it’s hard to pull back.
Find Your Barometer: Use a spouse or a trusted peer as a "barometer" to tell you when your stress levels are negatively impacting your leadership style.
Work-Life Harmony: Move away from the idea of a perfect "50/50 balance" and strive for harmony where your professional and personal lives can coexist.
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Summary:
In this episode, Timothy De Block sits down with a panel of cybersecurity leaders—Chris Anderson, Roger Brotz, and Mike Vetri—to discuss the realities of moving from "boots on the ground" technical roles to senior leadership. The conversation explores the challenges of letting go of the keyboard, the critical importance of emotional intelligence, and why "empathy" is a high-performance tool in a high-stress industry.
Meet the Panel
Chris Anderson: Security Consultant and Architect known for his "pot-stirring" approach to solving complex organizational security problems.
Roger Brotz: CISO at Arcadia Healthcare with over four decades of experience, starting his journey in 1977.
Mike Vetri: Senior Director of Security Operations at Veeva and former Air Force cyber operations officer.
Main Topics & Key Takeaways
The "Passion" to Lead
The panel dives into the true meaning of leadership, noting that the word "passion" stems from the Latin word for "suffering". Leading a cyber team means being willing to suffer through mistakes and high-pressure incidents alongside your team.
Empathy as a Business Metric
Mike shares a pivotal study indicating that leaders who embrace emotional intelligence and empathy often exceed their annual revenue goals by 20%. Conversely, a lack of empathy directly correlates to high burnout and employee turnover.
Learning to Fail Fast
The leaders recount personal failures, from failing to recognize team burnout during 16-hour-a-day incident responses to the "pride" of holding onto technical tasks for too long. They emphasize that failure is not a roadblock but a necessary inflection point for growth.
Bridging the Gap: Technical vs. Business
A major challenge for new leaders is translating "this is bad" into actionable business risk. Leaders must learn to speak the language of the boardroom, focusing on profit protection and risk management rather than just technical vulnerabilities.
Actionable Advice for Aspiring Leaders
Set Boundaries Early: Don't let your job intrude on your personal life until it's too late; once you establish a habit of always being available, it’s hard to pull back.
Find Your Barometer: Use a spouse or a trusted peer as a "barometer" to tell you when your stress levels are negatively impacting your leadership style.
Work-Life Harmony: Move away from the idea of a perfect "50/50 balance" and strive for harmony where your professional and personal lives can coexist.
Kate Johnson's Winding Path to a Director Role in Cybersecurity
Exploring Information Security - Exploring Information Security
56 minutes 5 seconds
4 months ago
Kate Johnson's Winding Path to a Director Role in Cybersecurity
Summary:
Timothy De Block interviews Kate Johnson about her cybersecurity career. Kate shares insights from her journey, emphasizing the importance of foundational knowledge and effective leadership in a constantly evolving technical field.
Key Takeaways:
From Guides to Director: Kate's career began with writing guides for technology users, teaching her empathy and a people-focused approach crucial for her later management roles. She progressed from an analyst to a director, leveraging early management experience at Central Michigan University.
Evolving Director Role: At Draos (founded in 2017), Kate's director role has expanded significantly as the company grew from 100 to over 500 employees. She now manages intelligence reverse engineers and oversees operations for the entire intelligence services department.
Leadership in Cybersecurity: Kate's management style is advisory, focusing on guiding her team and connecting their efforts. She maintains an analytical mindset, making data-driven decisions and supporting her highly technical team. A key challenge is letting people fail to learn, even if it's difficult to watch.
Cybersecurity Fundamentals: Kate stresses the need for a fundamental understanding of how systems work to effectively secure them. She recommends resources like Network+ and specific SANS courses for building this base.
The "Auditor" Aspect of Security: Kate views pen testing and security work as similar to auditing, emphasizing the need for evidence, identifying flaws, and providing actionable recommendations to add value.
Advice: Kate encourages aspiring cybersecurity professionals to "don't give up" as there are numerous opportunities and roles available for all types of people.
Resource Plug: Kate recommends OT-CERT (Secure OT CERT), a free, community-driven resource for sharing information and discussing threats in the Industrial Control Systems (ICS) field.
Resources Mentioned:
OT-CERT (Secure OT CERT)
CompTIA Network+ certification
SANS ICS 310 course
Rob Lee's blog
Mike Holcomb's YouTube channel
Exploring Information Security - Exploring Information Security
Summary:
In this episode, Timothy De Block sits down with a panel of cybersecurity leaders—Chris Anderson, Roger Brotz, and Mike Vetri—to discuss the realities of moving from "boots on the ground" technical roles to senior leadership. The conversation explores the challenges of letting go of the keyboard, the critical importance of emotional intelligence, and why "empathy" is a high-performance tool in a high-stress industry.
Meet the Panel
Chris Anderson: Security Consultant and Architect known for his "pot-stirring" approach to solving complex organizational security problems.
Roger Brotz: CISO at Arcadia Healthcare with over four decades of experience, starting his journey in 1977.
Mike Vetri: Senior Director of Security Operations at Veeva and former Air Force cyber operations officer.
Main Topics & Key Takeaways
The "Passion" to Lead
The panel dives into the true meaning of leadership, noting that the word "passion" stems from the Latin word for "suffering". Leading a cyber team means being willing to suffer through mistakes and high-pressure incidents alongside your team.
Empathy as a Business Metric
Mike shares a pivotal study indicating that leaders who embrace emotional intelligence and empathy often exceed their annual revenue goals by 20%. Conversely, a lack of empathy directly correlates to high burnout and employee turnover.
Learning to Fail Fast
The leaders recount personal failures, from failing to recognize team burnout during 16-hour-a-day incident responses to the "pride" of holding onto technical tasks for too long. They emphasize that failure is not a roadblock but a necessary inflection point for growth.
Bridging the Gap: Technical vs. Business
A major challenge for new leaders is translating "this is bad" into actionable business risk. Leaders must learn to speak the language of the boardroom, focusing on profit protection and risk management rather than just technical vulnerabilities.
Actionable Advice for Aspiring Leaders
Set Boundaries Early: Don't let your job intrude on your personal life until it's too late; once you establish a habit of always being available, it’s hard to pull back.
Find Your Barometer: Use a spouse or a trusted peer as a "barometer" to tell you when your stress levels are negatively impacting your leadership style.
Work-Life Harmony: Move away from the idea of a perfect "50/50 balance" and strive for harmony where your professional and personal lives can coexist.
