Ben Johnson - Hiring, developing products & democratizing Cyber Security

Ben is CTO and cofounder of Obsidian Security. He previously cofounded Carbon Black and most recently served as the company's chief security strategist. He has also has been a lecturer at University of Chicago’s Masters Program in Computer Science and a cybersecurity specialist at the National Security Agency (NSA) as well as serving on the board of a variety of security companies. Key Minutes 1:30 The first time Ben heard of Cyber Security 4:00 What does cyber security mean to you? 6:40 Starting Carbon Black 9:15 Carbon Black reaching a global audience 10:58 Staying in front of your competitors 13:00 Why did you leave Carbon Black? 14:47 Starting Obsidian Security 19:45 What’s unique about Obsidian? 24:17 Being a CTO 27:40 Learning from previous lessons 31:42 Hiring strategy 35:27 Retaining high level talent 38:48 Standing out from the crowd 42:27 Democratising cyber security 54:30 Biggest tips for founders or entrepreneurs 56:30 Ten Quick Fire Questions Key Points - Take the approach of people first - If you have 100 employees, that 100 people increases the risk because they are human - When hiring we emphasis culture fit. You have to focus on character. - If we don't retain our staff, its because we haven't created the right environment You can find: Conor on LinkedIn at: www.linkedin.com/in/conordsherman Obsidian on Twitter at: @obsidiansec Ben on Twitter at: @chicagoben Follow us: Twitter: @zero_hourpod Instagram: @zerohourexperience Website: www.karlsharman.com This podcast is sponsored by: BeecherMadden - www.beechermadden.com Cyber Security Professionals - www.cybersecurity-professionals.com