Rick Howard: A Cybersecurity Career Journey from West Point to The CyberWire

Early Life and Military Path

• 💡 Rick Howard's journey began in South Dakota, where his father was a gold miner, but he sought a different path through military service.
• 🚀 Enlisting in the Air Force through an early entry program led to an appointment at the United States Army's preparatory school, which was his gateway to West Point.
• 🎓 Pursuing computer science as a degree at the military academy was driven by his lifelong interest in computers and gaming.

Transition to Cybersecurity

• 💻 His computer science background led him into the US Army's signal corps, building networks for tactical units and eventually cyber security.
• 🛡️ His final role in the Army was as the commander of the Army's Computer Emergency Response Team, coordinating offensive and defensive operations.
• 🤝 A pivotal career move into the commercial sector came after contacting Bruce Schneier's company, Counterpane, leading him to run their global Security Operations Center (SOC).

Commercial Sector and The CyberWire

• 🏢 He later managed the commercial intelligence group at VeriSign, overseeing researchers and human intelligence professionals gathering insights on cyber threats.
• 🎙️ After a stint at Palo Alto Networks, Rick joined The CyberWire, initially calling about doing a podcast, which led to his current roles as CSO, Chief Analyst, and Senior Fellow.
• 🎯 He finds fulfillment in cybersecurity, viewing it as a mission to prevent harm to people, not just a business.

A Proud Moment: 9/11 at the Pentagon

• 🏢 During 9/11, Rick was the network manager at the Pentagon's Army command center.
• 🛠️ A year prior, his team had significantly improved the resiliency of the Army's communication systems, which were previously on a single, vulnerable server.
• ✅ Due to the implemented redundancies, the Army's communication center was the only one functioning the day after the attacks, a moment he is very proud of.