Candid CISO Podcast

From Hacker to CISO: Carlos De Leon's Journey and Career Advice

John Donovan Season 1 Episode 5

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In this episode of the Candid CISO podcast, Co-Host John Donovan interviews Carlos de Leon, CISO at the Washington State Department of Revenue. They discuss various topics related to cybersecurity leadership and strategy, including the challenges and rewards of the CISO role, the importance of compliance, and the need for strong communication and people skills. They also touch on incident response and threat management, highlighting the lessons learned from the CrowdStrike incident and a cloning incident at Carlos' agency. The conversation concludes with a discussion on the impact of technology and organizational factors on the CISO role, as well as Carlos' personal career journey. Also in this conversation, Carlos shares insights and advice on thinking creatively, his early hacker days, and career development in cybersecurity. He emphasizes the importance of an adversarial mindset and thinking outside the box to solve problems. Carlos provides advice for those looking to enter the cybersecurity field and become a CISO. The conversation concludes with a discussion on Hacker Summer Camp and the importance of networking and community in the cybersecurity industry.

 

Segments

00:00 - Introduction and Background
03:03 - CISO Role: Challenges and Rewards
07:02 - Compliance in the CISO Role
09:57 - Lessons from Incident Response and Threat Management
13:24 - Balancing Technology and Organizational Factors as a CISO
20:30 - Insights from a Personal Career Journey
29:19 - Thinking Creatively and Developing an Adversarial Mindset
31:34 - Career Development in Cybersecurity
35:27 - The Importance of Networking and Community in Cybersecurity

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