Helen E. Patton - Navigating the Cybersecurity Career Path: Insider Advice for Navigating from Your First Gig to the C-Suite

1. Chapter 5

Helen E. Patton

Copyright 2022 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

978-1-119-83342-0

978-1-119-83367-3 (ebk.)

978-1-119-83343-7 (ebk.)

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4470, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permission.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware the Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.

For general information on our other products and services or for technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic formats. For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.wiley.com.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021946526

Trademarks: WILEY and the Wiley logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

Cover Image: hkeita/Getty

Cover Design: Wiley

For Darren and Bear

Well, how did I get here? David Byrne's plaintive question from the Talking Heads song Once In a Lifetime is a constant refrain for most of the cybersecurity professionals I know, and the longer they've been in the industry, the more interesting and varied the answers. The sheer intellectual challenge of trying to protect new technologies from misuse, abuse, and destruction draws people from all walks of life: biology, oceanography, physics, liberal arts, theology, and even Chinese philosophy. The number of tribes in cybersecurity is also infinite, from the stereotypical hooded hacker to the medical device researcher, military strategist, and human factors designer. This presents a wealth of possibilities to someone who wants to enter the cybersecurity field but makes it even harder to figure out what path to take.

As a liberal arts dropout with ADHD, I find the dizzying maze of career paths suits me. I combined my on-the-job technical knowledge with my foreign language skills and ended up running regional security for a Swiss bank in Europe, and then I went home to Texas to do it again for the state government (yes, Texan cyber is its own dialect). I spent five years as an industry analyst, talking with hundreds of security vendors, before helping to stand up the Retail and Hospitality Intelligence Sharing and Analysis Center. Today I lead a team of former chief information security officers and apply all that experience to help guide security strategy at Cisco, the world's largest security company as well as a networking giant. I have no idea what I might do next in my career; none of it was planned, and every day brings something new for me to figure out.

But for those of you who feel anxious about working your way into your first cybersecurity job, or who are ready to move on to the next step but can't decide what that should be, Helen Patton is the mentor you need. Navigating the Cybersecurity Career Path reads like a couple of hours and a hot beverage with her, and if only I'd had either the mentorship or the written version 25 years ago, I might have made different choices in my career. I certainly would have made fewer mistakes. You don't have to be new to the field to get rich insights from her: no matter where you are or what you're trying to master, Helen has wise words from hard-earned experience on how to decide whether security management is right for you, how to build your first cybersecurity program, or even whether it's time to move on from your current position.

Although Helen currently reports to me at work, in a slightly alternate universe I would probably report to her, and I hope I get to do so in the future. The cybersecurity field is so dynamic and new that you should never pass up a chance to learn from a brilliant colleague, and with this book you have that chance in your hands. Seize it, and secure your future!

Wendy Nather

Head of Advisory CISOs, Cisco

Every week, I get a call from someone I don't know (or barely know) asking for a meeting so they can get to know me and ask me questions about working in security. Often, the person is thinking about working in security and needs help figuring out where to start. Just as often, the person already works in security and is wrestling with some challenge they can't solve on their own and wants some guidance. Sometimes, the person has taken on a new leadership or management role, and they are overwhelmed with the responsibility and don't know where to start.

They ask questions like these:

• How did you get into security?
• What would you recommend I do about this problem?
• How do you balance your work and home life?

I ask questions like these:

• Where do you work now?
• What do you want the outcome to be?
• Have you read this book/blog/podcast?

Being a mentor, coach, and sounding board is one of my favorite things to do. I love the community of people who work in this profession, and I love helping people navigate their way into and through it. I typically meet with a couple of people each month. Sometimes, meeting a new person results in an ongoing mentoring relationship, with a regular meeting cadence and a specific issue we explore. Sometimes, it results in no further meetings, but we do form a common connection, where I learn more about them. Usually, I also take something away from our meeting, too. I learn something that helps me remember something I had forgotten or something that helps me in my current role. We start a thread that can be picked up later if either of us needs it.