Derek Harp is excited to have Bryan Singer join him today for an episode in the Security Leader interview series! 

Bryan is a true pioneer in the cyber security space! He has an extensive background in several industries, including manufacturing, DoD, and healthcare. His proven professional skills include system architecture and design, software project management, application development, system administration, network administration, database design and administration, and multi-tier support. Currently, he is Principal Director of Security Innovation at Accenture.

Bryan was born in Mountain Home, Idaho. His father was a pilot in the air force, so they lived in many different places across the country while he was growing up. He spent most of his childhood in Alabama, and he remembers being the coolest kid on the street because he had an Apple 2 Plus computer with two five-and-a-quarter-inch floppy drives. Watching WarGames inspired him to become a hacker, but he soon realized that hacking was not quite what it appeared to be on television!

In this episode of the (CS)²AI Podcast, Bryan shares his superhero backstory, talks about his career journey, and discusses the valuable lessons he learned early on that he could apply later in his career. He also shares some helpful nuggets for people either considering a career in cyber security or crossing over from other areas in IT or OT. If you are interested in cyber security, stay tuned. You will not want to miss this informative episode!

Show highlights:

• Bryan talks about when he first got an itch for hacking. (1:23)
• Immediately after high school, he joined the army. He worked in Intelligence and got exposed to computer and network security, now known as cyber security. (3:40)
• Bryan started his career doing software development. (4:58)
• Bryan describes his first experience of dealing with a compromise. (7:00)
• Having a deep systems background has been helpful when diagnosing other problems later in his career. (8:43)
• What Bryan tells people when they ask him how he got involved in cyber security. (9:34)
• How he ended up being Chairman of the ISA-99 Security Committee. (12:34)
• Bryan discusses mentorship and explains how he managed to connect with mentors in the world of industrial safety. (17:12)
• How to get involved in the standards bodies early on in your career. (21:51)
• The advice Bryan would give to his younger self. (29:34)
• Some helpful advice for facing challenges. (33:14)
• The impact of the pandemic on the cyber security industry. (34:01)
• Bryan discusses the things he chose to do in his career, outside of what his job required. (35:52)
• Bryan co-authored two books. (36:14)

Links:

(CS)²AI 

Accenture

Bryan L Singer on LinkedIn

Resources:

The books Bryan co-authored: 

Cybersecurity for Industrial Control Systems: SCADA, DCS, PLC, HMI, and SIS

Hacking Exposed Industrial Control Systems: ICS and SCADA Security Secrets & Solutions