What are some interesting potential career paths in tech and cybersecurity today?
Call it bias, but cybersecurity is one of the most exciting fields. Our CEO Danny Kibel explains how to kickstart a career in tech and security.
You might have heard the phrase “software is eating the world” coined by Andreessen Horowitz. Well surprise, it’s proved to be true, and that means today that every company (at some level) needs to be a tech company and needs cybersecurity. From buying something online to browsing Instagram, cybersecurity touches everything that we do online, and so there are more opportunities and career paths than ever before.
In fact, the demand for security professionals is growing much, much faster than other occupations. Throw new technologies like artificial intelligence and blockchain into the mix, and you can see there’s a ton of really cool careers paths in the space, depending on what you’re passionate about. First and foremost, that’s the advice I give to people just starting out.
Second, I think building a career is a lot like building a company. You need to set a strong foundation by educating yourself, surrounding yourself with smart people through meet-ups and networking, and getting involved in industry events.
I’m excited about the growth of the industry, especially when it comes to diversity. We have a need for more diverse perspectives in this industry, and that’s such a valuable asset to have as we tackle the mountain of difficult security challenges ahead of us.
This post originally appeared in a Quora Q&A session hosted in May 2019. Our CEO Danny Kibel was asked to give his opinion on the state of cybersecurity, Zero Trust, working in the security field and entrepreneurship, among other things. For more of his answers visit Quora.
Danny Kibel
Danny Kibel is Chief Executive Officer at Idaptive, leading the overall strategy and vision for this newcomer to the identity and access management market. Under Danny’s direction, Idaptive is establishing its Next-Gen Access Cloud platform as the cornerstone of the Zero Trust approach to security, securing access for everyone, everywhere and on every device.
Prior to taking the helm at Idaptive, Danny was Vice President of Engineering & Operations at Centrify, where he led the development and delivery of the company’s cloud identity and mobility products.
With more than 20 years of experience designing, developing and delivering software, Danny has combined his deep technical background and strong business perspective to help create and deliver innovative products and solutions for enterprise software companies worldwide. Prior to his leadership roles at Idaptive and Centrify, he was a senior director at ServiceNow, leading several teams that automated and managed application releases in cloud environments. Before that, Danny was a senior software manager at Cisco for nearly eight years. Earlier in his career, he led the delivery and solutions team for a startup company that was later acquired by Cisco.
Danny graduated from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with a degree in computer science and later earned an MBA in marketing and technology management from Tel Aviv University.
CHAMELEON-LIKE SUPERPOWER
If Danny could have any chameleon-like superpower, it would be the chameleon's 360-degree vision. In the wild, the chameleon is faced with opportunities (a yummy grasshopper hanging about), as well as dangers (a snake lurking nearby, or a hawk flying up above), so having 360- degree vision helps the chameleon evolve while protecting it from predators. “Similarly, to run a successful business, one needs to have a wide perspective of the market, technology, opportunities and challenges.”