What I’ve learned in my first 7-ish years in cybersecurity

When I first interviewed with Joel Esler for my position at Cisco Talos, I remember when the time came for me to ask questions, one thing stood out. I asked what resources were available to me to learn about cybersecurity, because I was totally new to the space.  

His answer: The people. When I asked that question, Joel told me that the entire office was a library for me. He told me to just ask as many questions as I could. 

Coming from journalism, where I was reporting on a range of topics from local government, finance and banking, art and culture, and sports, cybersecurity was totally new to me. Now almost seven years later, I’ve been able to host a podcast that went nearly 200 episodes, relaunch a cybersecurity newsletter, researched malicious Facebook groups trading stolen personal information, and I’ve even learned how to write a ClamAV signature. 

Unfortunately, this week is my last at Talos, but far from my last in cybersecurity. I’m off to a new adventure, but I wanted to take the space here to talk about what I’ve learned in my career at Talos.  

I think that this is a good lesson for anyone reading this: If you want to work in cybersecurity, you can, no matter what your background or education is. I’ve met colleagues across Talos who previously studied counterterrorism operations, German and Russian history, and political science. And I walked into my first day on the job knowing next to nothing about cy ..

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