Derek Manky: From Programmer to Global Threat Intelligence Leader at Fortinet

Early Career and Passion for Programming

• 💡 Derek Manky began his career teaching programming due to a deep passion for the subject.
• 🚀 His early fascination with technology started at age 7 with a 286 system, leading to a dream of working in mission-critical systems like NASA's mission control.
• 💻 He honed his skills in low-level languages like C, C++, assembler, and x86 code, which naturally led to debugging and reverse engineering.

Transition to Cybersecurity and Fortinet

• 🤝 A friend's suggestion led Derek to apply to Fortinet, where he started as a software engineer over 18 years ago.
• 🔬 He joined the FortiGuard Labs team, where he began applying his programming and debugging experience to real-world cybersecurity applications, working on antivirus engines and malware detection.
• 📈 The threat landscape has evolved dramatically from a handful of researchers working graveyard shifts to today's complex and fast-paced environment.

Entering the Cybersecurity Field

• 🎓 Derek emphasizes that entering cybersecurity doesn't have to be complicated and offers many entry points, even without being a senior expert.
• 🌐 Resources like podcasts and certifications are crucial for education and understanding the field.
• 🧩 The industry now offers diverse roles beyond traditional malware analysis, including data science and machine learning, making it easier to find a suitable entry-level position.

Leadership and Collaboration

• 🤝 A key leadership principle for Derek is interoperability and true teamwork, both within his own multiple departments and across other Fortinet organizations.
• ⚡ Sharing information about new attack techniques is vital for developing safeguards and protecting against threats.
• 💬 Learning from mistakes is crucial, requiring acknowledgment, ownership, and forward momentum.

Impact and Vision for the Future

• 🎯 Derek's career goal is to make a significant impact in fighting cybercrime, aiming for a "crater" rather than just a "dent."
• 📊 He leads the global threat intelligence team, focusing on analyzing data, separating signal from noise, and identifying leads for threat hunting.
• 🤝 He is passionate about industry collaboration, building partnerships across public and private sectors to disrupt cybercrime and increase operational costs for criminals.
• 🏆 Achievements include co-founding the Cyber Threat Alliance and setting up zero-day research programs, but his ultimate aim is a reduction in cybercrime itself.