Nov 13 2023 37 mins 2
A̶l̶m̶o̶s̶t̶ every route in cybersecurity lands on empathy. Despite its ultimate goal of protecting data, information security remains a people-focused discipline, with paths that lead to it as varied as they come.
Yet the magic happens when hackers with the most unconventional backgrounds use their hacking skills to break down things and reconnect them in surprising ways. My guest, Pete Herzog, a humble giant in the cybersecurity space, is the perfect example of this.
Pete is the Co-founder and Managing Director of ISECOM and the Co-founder of Urvin AI, Mewt, and Invisibles. On top of his immense contribution to cybersecurity, his diverse range of interests also materialized in a collection of fascinating neurohacking tools.
Join us for an exploration of the hacker mindset at the intersection of hacking, neuroscience, and music!
Pete's unconventional route to cybersecurity has a lot to teach us, as does his innate ability to combine multiple disciplines in remarkable ways. I talked to Pete about Hacker Highschool, the project he started to bring cybersecurity education to teenagers, the spark that lit the creation of neurohacking music and Invisibles, the Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual (OSSTMM), his thoughts on trust, empathy in cybersecurity, and much more.
Tune into this episode to get:
- A glimpse into Pete's background and how his passion project - neurohacking music - started (4:00)
- Insight into Pete's "unconventional" background and how it molded his approach to cybersecurity (16:30)
- Why our difficult experiences are what (should) make us empathetic (23:30)
- Why Hackers Highschool is such an important project for this community (26:00)
- Pete’s thoughts on "zero trust" and the creation of the OSSTMM (31:10)
Resources from this episode:
- Pete's post on what's cybersecurity about
- Pete's tweet on being nice in cybersecurity
- Hacker Highschool
- Invisibles' website
- @GenXBanshee tweet on Pete's Invisibles neuro hacking music
- Neurohacking
- Xavi De La Iglesia
- Binaural Beats
- Transcranial direct-current stimulation
- OSSTMM (The Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual)
- 2600.com
Connect with Pete:
Let's connect!
