Tribe of Hackers Security Leaders

37Kent Nabors

“If you have a strong team, then leading is often about clearing the area and providing tools for people to work.”

Website: www.linkedin.com/in/kentnabors

Kent Nabors has worked in bank examinations for the FDIC and the Federal Reserve. After leading the networking infrastructure team for a national midmarket bank, he went on to build their cybersecurity practice and then served as the institution's first CISO. After more than 20 years in the banking industry, he recently took over as the cybersecurity leader for a national retail chain with more than 800 locations and a significant e-commerce presence. Kent is also the co-author of Dissecting the Hack: The F0rb1dd3n Network. When not practicing cybersecurity, Kent is an occasional speaker on the topic for industry, university, and civic organizations. He also does volunteer work for community cybersecurity activities. In what spare time remains, Kent owns a small business with his wife. He received his MBA from the University of Oklahoma.

Do you believe there is a massive shortage of career cybersecurity professionals?

We haven't suddenly run out of intelligent humans. In fact, I think we have more educated people today than at any point in history. We do have a lot of demand for particular skills right now, but that can be filled with bright people…but are we making cybersecurity an interesting and engaging ...