Tribe of Hackers

66Robert “TProphet” Walker

“Certifications do not make people more qualified. Some of the best people in the industry don’t have any certifications.”

Twitter: @TProphet • Website: www.seat31b.com

TProphet began writing for 2600: The Hacker Quarterly while still in high school and authors the Telecom Informer column. He is one of a handful of individuals to have attended every DEF CON and is a cofounder of Queercon (the forefront LGBTQ organization in the InfoSec community) and the founder of the famous TeleChallenge phone-based puzzle challenge. Robert works as an information security architect.

If there is one myth that you could debunk in cybersecurity, what would it be?

“Certifications are a necessary qualification.” Certifications do not make people more qualified. Some of the best people in the industry don’t have any certifications. Certifications tend to be pursued by people who are pure InfoSec rather than where InfoSec is just part of the job. Also, most certifications issued today didn’t even exist when the most senior people in the industry entered it.

What is one of the biggest bang-for-the-buck actions that an organization can take to improve its cybersecurity posture?

Getting the basics right. Most people are compromised, even still, by malicious email attachments, phishing, and clicking dodgy things in browsers. There is also a lack of multifactor authentication ...