// Learn about the black leaders in cyber history...
Hey Hackers and happy Black History Month! I'm sure that you are aware of the more iconic black history idols. People like Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, and of course, Martin Luther King Jr. But what about the black leaders in cybersecurity? This week's issue will cover five different icons, all from cybersecurity-related fields.
"It's not about tech bros, it's about tech people" - Teo Yi Ling
Corey Thomas:
If you participate in different hackathons or CTF's, are an ethical hacker, or any other cybersecurity professional; you are more than likely familiar with the tool "Metasploit". Rapid7, a well-renowned cybersecurity company, developed this tool into existence. Corey is the CEO of Rapid7 and has been in office since 2015. Corey got his B.E. in electrical engineering and computer science at Vanderbilt University, as well as his MBA from Harvard Business School. Once working for Microsoft, he made his way up the ladder into the position of CEO of Rapid7. In 2018, Corey was elected to the Cyber Threat Alliance and other numerous boards and committees. Corey's efforts in the cybersecurity community have been and will continue to be absolutely legendary.
Christopher Young:
McAfee Antivirus, easily one of the most iconic pieces of security software to date. Providing innocent internet users with antivirus protection, malware protection, VPN, and other general internet security features. Christopher Young is the former CEO of McAfee. Before McAfee, Young worked at many iconic corporations like RSA Cybersecurity, Cisco Networking, VMware, Intel, and a few others. He led McAfee with great excellence until November of 2020. He moved on to greater things, now working as Microsoft's Executive Vice President of Business Development.
Christopher Taylor: [Blue Cosmo]
The second "Christopher" on this list may seem a little more familiar to the fans of this blog. Chris Taylor is the CEO of Cosmodium CyberSecurity [CCS]. He is a youth leader and cybersecurity YouTuber/Blogger. Chris earned the nickname "Blue Cosmo" due to him always "reaching for the stars". He enjoys educating everyday people on the importance of cybersecurity in their day to day lives. Chris also tries to promote and inform his fanbase about cybersecurity jobs, displaying that Ethical Hackers and SOC Analysts aren't the only jobs in the field. Despite his young age, Chris strives to one day build CCS into a full-fledged cybersecurity company.
Window Snyder:
Microsoft and Apple are two of the biggest corporations in the technology field. Despite their rivalry, they can both agree on Snyder. Snyder is one of the most respectable security professionals there is. Starting off in Microsoft as the Senior Security Strategist, she led and secured Microsoft Windows XP [Service Pack 2] and Windows Server 2003. She was a co-developer for a revolutionary threat modeling software. At Microsoft, she created the Blue Hat Microsoft Hacker Conference. This conference allowed different developers, hackers, and other cybersecurity professionals to help fix Microsoft's digital security. She later left Microsoft to become the founder of Matasano Security, a security-based products and services company. She then worked for Mozilla for some time and then moved on to work for Apple. She did some amazing work for Apple and then took the position of CSO [Cheif Security Officer] for Fastly, a cloud computing service.
Hugh Njemanze:
During the Great Recession in 2008, a security information company by the name of ArcSight "thrived". Although one could argue that no one truly "thrived" during the Great Recession, ArcSight was the only Silicon Valley company that was able to go public. Hugh is the cofounder of ArcSight and he has a very impressive track record.
Before he worked at ArcSight, Hugh was the CTO of Verity. There he was in charge of product development and other technical responsibilities. He also did software engineering for Apple. During this time, Hugh and a few others created the Data Access Language, otherwise known as DAL. After ArcSight was sold to HP for $1.5 Billion dollars, he became the CEO of Anomali. Anomali is a cyber intelligence company that does threat detection [among other things] for large corporations. In 2010, Hugh was awarded the Northern California Ernst & Young LLP Entrepreneur of The Year.
Summary:
All of the aforementioned people have done and will continue to do amazing things. Black or not, we can only hope that readers like you will stand up and rise like these leaders. You can rewrite the history books and become the next idols of whatever your passion may be. So follow your dreams, and be proud! Thanks for reading, and as always,
Happy Hacking!
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