How to pick your cybersecurity career path | Guest Alyssa Miller

Alyssa Miller of S&P Global Ratings discusses the easiest pentest she ever ran on an app and the importance of diversity of hiring, not just “diversity of thought.” She also gives some of the best advice we’ve heard yet on picking your cybersecurity path.

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0:00 - Intro
2:44 - Miller’s origin story
5:53 - Experiences working while at school
8:20 - Pursuing a degree
10:57 - How has cybersecurity changed?
12:58 - Coming into cybersecurity from a different perspective
13:55 - Moving to pentesting versus programming
18:52 - Penetration testing through the years
20:46 - A big change in your industry
25:27 - Specifics of a business information security officer 
29:09 - Skills for a business information security officer role
32:34 - “Cyber Defenders’ Career Guide” book
35:08 - What surprised you about writing the book?
41:46 - Equity and inclusion in cybersecurity
47:11 - Who is doing equity correctly? 
49:12 - Long term equity strategies? 
52:45 - Final cybersecurity career advice 
55:40 - Outro 

Alyssa Miller is a hacker, security researcher, advocate and international public speaker with over 15 years of experience in cybersecurity. From a young age, she has enjoyed exploring and deconstructing technology to learn more about how it works. At 12 years old, she bought her first computer. From that $1,000 purchase, she launched a hobby that would later become her career. Just seven years later, she was hired to her first full-time salary job as a programmer. Alyssa is also passionate that doing better in security begins with sharing knowledge and learning from each other. She regularly presents her perspectives through public speaking engagements. She speaks at various industry conferences, vendor and customer hosted events and non-security related events. Alyssa’s mission is to improve all aspects of the security community. Therefore, her topics range from technical to strategic to higher level community and policy issues.

Alyssa is a member of Women in Cyber Security (WiCyS) Racial Equity Committee. Additionally, she participates in other organizations designed to build a more welcoming and cooperative culture in security. As a member of ISACA, Alyssa currently holds a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) certification. She is also the author of "The Cyber Defenders’ Career Guide," published by Manning in May 2021. We’re going to be discussing all of Alyssa’s fascinating story, her career journey, the work of demystifying cybersecurity and her work helping to create a more inclusive and welcoming space in the cybersecurity industry. 

About Infosec
Infosec believes knowledge is power when fighting cybercrime. We help IT and security professionals advance their careers with  skills development and certifications while empowering all employees with security awareness and privacy training to stay cyber-safe at work and home. It’s our mission to equip all organizations and individuals with the know-how and confidence to outsmart cybercrime. Learn more at infosecinstitute.com.