Today, Derek Harp is excited to have Mark Bristow joining him for another episode in the interview series on security leaders! Mark is well-known in the cyber security industry. He is the Branch Chief for Cyber Defense Coordination and Operations for threat hunting at the Department of Homeland Security.

Mark found his first bug in an ISV system when he was ten years old. As a teenager, he was passionate about technology and spent much of his time discovering what he could do with his computer and the nascent internet. He later earned a Computer Engineering degree from Penn State. 

Mark has been at the forefront of headline-making incident response efforts like the attack on the Ukrainian power grid, intrusions into U.S. election infrastructure, and Russian attempts to gain access to the U.S. power grid. He often does talks on worldwide industrial control systems security issues. He enjoys sharing his knowledge about the protection of critical infrastructure and using his real-life experience to help students relate the information to scenarios in the field. He is also a pilot-in-training and a scuba diver! 

Mark had access to control systems as a young child, and as a result, he developed a breaker mindset quite early on. In this episode, he tells his story, talks about his background and career, and shares his unique perspective on cyber security. He talks about working for the government and offers some nuggets of career advice for people thinking of making a career in cyber security or those currently doing development in systems design and would like to specialize in cyber security. 

If you are thinking of making a career in cyber security, you will learn a lot from today’s interview with Mark Bristow! Stay tuned for more!

Show highlights:

• The role Mark’s father played in him becoming an early adopter of technology (3:11)
• How he found a bug in an ISV system at the age of ten. (5:14)
• Mark figured out how to bypass the safety controls and make the computer drop the space shuttle's engines before they were supposed to. (8:14)
• How Mark transitioned from doing programming to doing cyber security professionally. (11:25)
• Mark explains how programming mattered and helped him in his career journey. (13:23)
• Some nuggets of advice for programmers who want to add something to their career path by specializing in cyber security. (16:02)
• A nugget of advice for what you should do when you receive a job offer. (19:48)
• The mentors and people who opened doors for Mark along his career path. (23:21)
• What is it like working for the government? (24:37)
• Mark explains why he pivoted to become a federal employee. (30:40)
• Everyone in the cyber security industry is open to helping each other and offering advice. (35:51)
• What you can do right now to become sought-after and successful in five to ten years. (37:29)
• Mark explains his job title and talks about what he does. (45:29)

Links:

(CS)²AI

Mark Bristow on LinkedIn

CISA