Please enjoy this encore of Career Notes.

Lieutenant in the US Navy and Skillbridge Fellow at the CyberWire, Brandon Karpf, knew he wanted to join the military at a young age. He achieved that through the US Naval Academy where he was a member of the men’s heavyweight rowing team. Commissioned as a cryptologic warfare officer, Brandon was sent to MIT for a graduate degree where he experienced the exact opposite of the Naval Academy’s highly structured life. Brandon’s later work with both NSA and US Cyber Command helped him gain experience and cyber operations skills. As he transitions from active duty to civilian life, Brandon shares his personal challenges and struggles during that process. Through the DoD Skillbridge Fellowship program, Brandon’s transition has him sharing his skills with the CyberWire. We thank Brandon for sharing his expertise and his story with us.

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Please enjoy this encore of Career Notes.

Product Manager in Anti-Fraud Solutions at SpyCloud, Pattie Dillon shares her journey from raising her family to specializing in the anti-fraud space. Upon reentering the workforce, Pattie worked on identity verification and developed a system with privacy concerns in mind. She moved to work in gift cards and was exposed to money laundering. Traveling along the fraud spectrum, Pattie learned about underground data and feels that this data can be leveraged to actually prevent and fight online fraud. Pattie believes if you don't try, you'll never know. We know we appreciate Pattie sharing her story with us.

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Host of the CyberWire Podcast, Dave Bittner, wanted to work with the Muppets, so naturally he landed in cybersecurity. Dave and his Cookie Monster puppet spent much of his childhood putting on shows for his parents friends. During one of those performances, he was discovered and got his start at the local PBS station. A radio, television and film major in college, Dave owned his own company and as the most tech-savvy member of the group, handled that side of things. Dave notes his cybersecurity challenges back then consisted of maybe a corrupt floppy disk. It wasn't until he joined the CyberWIre that cybersecurity became Dave's focus. A former boss showed him how to lead a team and treat everyone with kindness regardless of their role. We thank Dave for sharing his story with us.

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Executive Security Advisor at IBM Security Limor Kessem says she started her cybersecurity career by pure chance. Limor made a change from her childhood dream of being a doctor and came into cybersecurity with her passion, investment, discipline, and perseverance. Limor talks about how we must tighten our core security and at the same time we allow innovation to help us move forward with the times. She's been fortunate to have been able to stand up for others and has had others support her. She said that is very motivating and has allowed her to really explore every possible thing in her career that she can contribute without limiting herself to a certain role. We thank Limor for sharing her story with us.

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Chief Scientist at LivePerson Joe Bradley takes us down his circuitous career journey that led him back to math. Joe had many ambitions from opera singer to middle school teacher, spent some time at two national labs and went back to his first love of math and physics. He notes that many of the most mathematically intuitive people that he's met are people that also have a creative outlet and a lot of times it's music. Adding a business aspect to his technical work, Joe came to his current position. He recommends going deep into your preferred subject and hopes that it helps you to become something different because of all you put into the work. We thank Joe for sharing his story with us.

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CEO and co-founder of Sternum, Natali Tshuva shares how she took her interest in science and technology and made a career and company out of it. Beginning her computer science undergraduate degree at age 14 through a special program in Israel, Natali says it opened up a new world for her. Her required service in the IDF found Natali as a member of Unit 8200, the Israeli intelligence. In the Israeli corporate space following the IDF, Natali discovered how cybersecurity could actually create impact in the real world environment and found a way to combine her cybersecurity expertise with the passion to impact critical industries like the medical industry. Natali recommends that those entering the field get some hands-on experience and use your unique strengths to find a way to make the world a better place. We thank Natali for sharing her story. 

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Chief Technology Officer of ActiveNav Rich Hale takes us through his career aspirations of board game designer (one he has yet to realize), through his experience with the Royal Air Force to the commercial sector where his firm works to secure dark data. During his time in the Air Force, Rich was fortunate to serve on a wide range of different platforms from training aircraft to bombers, and all the way into procurement and policy. Transitioning to the commercial sector, Rich notes he was well prepared for some aspects, but lacking in some he's made up on his own. Rich likes to lead with vision and empower his teams. He counsels that you should not fear making a career change, but be sure to look twice before making the leap. We thank Rich for sharing his story with us.

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Vice President for Cyber and Information Solutions within Mission Systems at Northrop Grumman, Jennifer Walsmith takes us on her pioneering career journey. Following in her father's footsteps at the National Security Agency, Jennifer began her career out of high school in computer systems analysis. Jennifer notes she saw the value of a college degree and at her parents' urging attended night school. She completed her bachelors in computer science at University of Maryland, Baltimore County with the support of the NSA. Jennifer talks about the support of her team at NSA where she was one of the first women to have a career and a family, raising two children while working. Upon retirement from government service, Jennifer chose an organization with values that closely matched her own and uses her position to help her team define possible where they sometimes think they can't. We thank Jennifer for sharing her story with us.

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Chief Security Officer, Chief Analyst, and Senior Fellow at the CyberWire, Rick Howard, shares his travels through the cybersecurity job space. The son of a gold miner who began his career out of West Point in the US Army, Rick worked his way up to being the Commander of the Army's Computer Emergency Response Team. Rick moved to the commercial sector working for Bruce Schneier running Counterpane's global SOC. Rick's first CSO job was for Palo Alto Networks where he was afforded the opportunity to create the Cybersecurity Canon Hall of Fame and the Cyber Threat Alliance. Upon considering retirement, Rick called up on the CyberWire to ask about doing a podcast and he was hired on to the team. Rick shares a proud moment through a favorite story. We thank Rick for sharing his story with us.

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Please enjoy this encore episode of Career Notes.

Business Information Security Officer at S&P Global Ratings, Alyssa Miller, joins us to talk about her journey to become a champion to create a welcoming nature and acceptance of diversity in the cybersecurity community. Starting her first full-time tech position while still in college, Alyssa noted the culture shock being in both worlds. Entering as a programmer and then moving to pen testing where she got her start in security, Alyssa grew into a leader who is committed to elevating those around her. Some stumbling blocks along the way gave her pause and helped point her in her current role where Alyssa works to bring more diverse views to improve the problem-solving in the space, something she sees as a key to success for the industry. We thank Alyssa for sharing her story with us.

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