Derek Harp is happy to have Mark Weatherford, the CSO at AlertEnterprise, and the Chief Strategy Officer at the National Cybersecurity Center, joining him today for another episode in the series of security leader interviews!

Mark grew up on a farm in an agricultural community in Northern California and left the farming life to embark on a career in the Navy and travel the world as a technologist, helping companies in cyberspace. Throughout his career, he always planned to get back into ranching. Apart from being a well-known security leader, Mark is a military veteran, technologist, beekeeper, hunter, pilot, and a soon-to-be rancher and gardener. He is also a husband and father.

Mark has had various executive-level cybersecurity roles, including Global Information Security Strategist at Booking Holdings, Chief Cybersecurity Strategist at vArmour, a Principal at The Chertoff Group, Chief Security Officer at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, and Chief Information Security Officer for the state of Colorado. He was appointed in 2008 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to serve as California’s first Chief Information Security Officer. In 2011, he got appointed by the Obama Administration as the Deputy Under Secretary for Cybersecurity at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 

Mark is a well-rounded individual who does a variety of interesting things. In this episode of the (CS)²AI Podcast, he shares his backstory and describes his career journey. He talks about the challenge CISOs face today, explains why relationships are vital, and discusses what it takes to be a good CISO today. He also offers some valuable nuggets of career advice for listeners.

You will not want to miss this episode if you are in a first-time CISO role or considering making a career in cybersecurity. Stay tuned for more!

Show highlights:

• Growing up, Mark was always playing around with electricity, wiring up motors and lights, and often overloading circuits and blowing breakers. (3:20)
• Mark became a cryptologic technician in the Navy and focused on signals intelligence. (4:50)
• In 1994, Mark wrote his grad school thesis on information security. That changed his life and set the stage for his future. (7:59)
• Mark created the Navy’s first operational red team. (10:14)
• Mark explains why a CISO cannot be an expert today. (12:20)
• Mark got hired as the first CISO for the state of Colorado. It was a great learning experience! (15:06)
• Why is becoming a CISO is all about developing relationships? (19:47)
• Mentoring others is one of the most satisfying things Mark has ever done. (25:28)
• Mark had a lot of influence in his role at DHS. (32:01)
• Some advice for people thinking of taking on CISO roles. (35:34)
• What do you need to focus on and learn if you are aiming for a senior CISO position? (38:24)
• What do people in advisory board roles do? (46:08)

Links:

(CS)²AI

Mark Weatherford on LinkedIn

AlertEnterprise

National Cybersecurity Center