Today, we have another podcast in the Security Leaders interview series. In this episode, Derek Harp talks to Chris Blask, the Global Director of Industrial and IoT Security at Unisys. Chris is a man of many talents! He is an entrepreneur, an inventor, an evangelist, and a visionary. He has been involved in many different projects for work, for fun, and sometimes a mix of both. 

Chris was the inventor of one of the first firewall products. In addition, he built a multibillion-dollar firewall business at Cisco System, co-founded an early SIEM vendor, wrote the first book on SIEM, founded an information-sharing center for critical infrastructures, and advised both public and private organizations across the world in every sector. In his role at Unisys, Chris created the Operational Technology and IoT security practices, which he also leads. He also invented the Digital Bill of Materials (DBoM) structure and established the Unisys Marine Living Research Center. He currently chairs a range of non-profit cybersecurity organizations and contributes to a wide range of global security efforts.

Chris is very well known, and his resume is outstanding! He has been involved in many different projects and initiatives. In this episode of the (CS)²AI Podcast, he shares some valuable nuggets from his vast experience! He tells his superhero origin story, talks about the non-linear way he got to where he is today, sheds light on his current role as a leader in the cybersecurity industry, and discusses his philosophy around problem-solving. 

Chris frequently changed course throughout his career journey. If you are in the early part of your career and thinking of making some changes down the line, you really won’t want to miss this episode! Be sure to stay tuned for more!

Show highlights:

• Technology was a thread that ran all along Chris’s career path. (5:51)
• While growing up, Chris always loved taking things apart to figure out how they worked. (8:16)
• Moving on after every change he made in his life and education. (10:57)
• The history and appreciation of art have had as much to do with Chris’s success as learning to program in Cobol. (12:46)
• Chris explains how he started teaching people about different aspects of technology and how that led to his first job in OT with General Electric. (13:16)
• Chris enabled himself to do mobile video conferencing to save his company millions of dollars. (15:28)
• Chris explains how the security aspect of his career came into play. (21:00)
• Creating and releasing the BorderWare Firewall Server. (25:46)
• History has proved that there will always be a point in the future when every problem will get solved. (27:24)
• Chris has been into cybersecurity for the last 28 years. He talks about all the companies with which he was involved. (31:56)
• Chris talks about the genesis of firewalls. (34:05)
• Learning to talk the right language, to move up in the world of technology. (39:17)
• How mentorship has played out in Chris’s career. (43:20)
• Chris shares a strategy for anyone currently in OT or cybersecurity. (51:34)
• Chris talks about the changes he sees happening with OT and cybersecurity in the future. (58:37)

Links:

(CS)²AI  

Unisys