Cherie Burgett takes us on a fascinating journey from her days as a Radio Shack employee and avid gamer to becoming the Director of Cyber Intelligence Operations for the Mining and Metals Information Sharing and Analysis Center. Her story demolishes the myth that cybersecurity professionals must follow traditional career paths, demonstrating how life skills, natural curiosity, and a hacker mentality can translate into powerful cyber defense capabilities.

The conversation reveals profound insights about the evolving threat landscape where criminals have developed specialized supply chains and even customer support systems. "It takes a lot more skills to defend than it does to attack," Cherie notes, highlighting the asymmetric challenge defenders face. We learn how threat actors now specialize in different attack phases—initial access brokers selling to ransomware operators—creating a complex criminal ecosystem that demands collaborative defensive approaches.

What sets this episode apart is Cherie's perspective on the human dimension of threat intelligence. With background in Bible college studying hermeneutics (the art of interpretation), she brings humanities-focused analysis to technical challenges. "Threat intelligence to me is the most human of the cyber disciplines," she explains, emphasizing that we're ultimately "protecting people, not systems." This philosophy shapes her approach to intelligence sharing, where she insists on providing context and actionable insights rather than merely distributing raw data or "story time" recitations of headlines.

Whether you're an experienced CTI professional or considering entering the field from an unconventional background, this episode offers valuable guidance on building skills, avoiding analytical biases, and connecting with industry resources. Follow Cherie on LinkedIn or through MMISAC publications to continue learning from her unique perspective on making threat intelligence truly human-centered and impactful.

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