Dave Bittner: From Puppet Shows to Cybersecurity Leadership

Early Influences and First Computer

• 🎭 Dave Bittner's childhood dream of working with the Muppets led him to discover his talent for entertaining through puppet shows.
• 📺 A friend of his parents recognized his talent, leading to an opportunity at a local PBS station and his first paid role.
• 💾 This early experience, combined with money from a paper route, allowed him to purchase his first computer, a TRS-80.

Role as a Podcast Host

• 🎙️ As host of the CyberWire podcast, Dave sees his role as an interviewer who asks questions that others might be afraid to ask.
• 🧠 His goal is to make cybersecurity experts comfortable sharing their knowledge, enabling the audience to learn and gain a better understanding.
• 🤝 He emphasizes that his job is not to be the expert, but to facilitate the sharing of expertise by others.

Entrepreneurship and Early Tech Career

• 🖥️ After college, Dave majured in Radio, Television, and Film, focusing on the tech and production side.
• 🚀 He co-founded a company leveraging early desktop digital video technology, where his computer expertise was crucial for setting up systems.
• 💾 In the early days of computing, security concerns were minimal, often limited to issues like a corrupt floppy disk.

Leadership Lessons and Client Management

• 🌱 A former boss named Jeff at a garden center taught Dave valuable lessons in leadership, positivity, and treating everyone with kindness.
• 💡 Dave's first paid computer job involved programming a system to label plants, demonstrating Jeff's belief in his abilities.
• ⚠️ In a challenging experience directing a video shoot, Dave learned the importance of firing difficult clients to protect his crew and maintain respect.

Cybersecurity Focus and Privacy Advocacy

• 🔒 Dave's direct involvement with cybersecurity became a primary focus when he joined the CyberWire.
• 🛡️ He now uses and endorses DeleteMe, a service that removes personal information from data broker sites, highlighting its effectiveness and the peace of mind it provides.
• 🏢 DeleteMe also offers solutions for businesses to protect employee information and reduce threats like social engineering.