The Evolution of Cyber Defence: Edward Farrell's Journey from IT Ops to InfoSec

Edward Farrell is Director & Principal Consultant for the Australian company Mercury Information Security Services. Edward has nearly two decades experience in the IT sector, having worked early on in network design and IT operations, before transitioning into a focus on infosec. He’s an Industry Fellow at the University of NSW, teaching in the cyber security masters program, and a board member and advisor to multiple organisations. In this episode, Cole Cornford chats with Edward about his career journey, using automation to make teams more efficient, his belief that the infosec industry would benefit from further professionalisation, and plenty more. Secured by Galah Cyber with Cole Cornford website Time Stamps6:25 - Edward’s career background10:00 - Did Edward enjoy living in Wollongong? 11:20 - Value of work experience while at Uni14:00 - What led Edward to start his own business15:40 - Using automation to make a business more efficient18:10 - Career pathways within info security19:00 - The big 4 firms in cybersecurity20:40 - A broader issue with the Australian market22:30 - Financial planning25:40 - The best blog posts that Edward has written recently27:10 - The professionalisation of cybersecurity 32:00 - Too many tech solutions, not enough service providers?36:00 - Edward anecdote: one guy in the company who knows all the systems37:20 - Rapid fire questionsMentioned in this episode:Call for FeedbackThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrpSpotify Ad Analytics - https://www.spotify.com/us/legal/ad-analytics-privacy-policy/