Certifications

In my very first SAN’s class, many years ago, the instructor made comment that we were perfecting our Art. As a life long martial artist, this resonated with me, and as such I have continued to expand my knowledge, skills, and abilities.

To be able to understand business processes and communicate the cyber threats to the organization I believe it is important to have a minimum level of expertise in cyber threats, compliance requirements, laws, etc. I think of it like being a professional magician, where they will have a several tricks prepped and ready to go at a moments notice, just in case the opportunity arises. Some of the best conversations with the board members and leadership has been impromptu conversations where I was able to demonstrate successful attacks on live machines. Not only did they get to see (and sometimes take part in) an attack, but we were able to have a meaningful conversation about risk, mitigation, and the future of the organization.

I believe the Art of the CISO is the ability to tie together the hard skills of privacy and cyber security into the soft skills of building trust and relationships with the organization. Additionally I believe it is important for the CISO to be a mentor to their team and to others in the industry. Sharing knowledge is a powerful way to build relationships both in the organization and the industry.

Current Certifications:

Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
Fellow of Information Privacy (FIP)
Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE)
Certified Information Privacy Professional – Europe (CIPP-E)
Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM)
Certified Information Privacy Technologist (CIPT)
GIAC Law of Data Security and Investigations (GLEG)
GIAC Systems and Network Auditor (GSNA)
GIAC Certified Penetration Tester (GPEN)
GIAC Security Operations Manager (GSOM)
Payment Card Industry – Professional (PCI-P)
Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
Palo Alto Networks – Accredited Configuration Engineer (ACE)