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Opening Comment: You bring a lifetime of proven experience and accumulated valuable insights to our audience. Considering your impossible schedule(s), we thank you for doing this interview with us.
A: You're welcome!
Q1: Can you profile how you got to your present position in your career?
A: I've always liked to put things together the wrong way (witness a predilection for puns); specializing in security was inevitable. A longer answer: I got into computer science in the 1980s because it was a relatively brand-new field. After working out in the real world trying to fit social processes and technology and security together, I came back to academia as an old young professor. Having to teach and work with bright young students takes the rust off.
[John]: Much like Sean, I was one who always put my Legos together in some way other than what the instructions dictated. Plus, I saw WarGames in the movie theater as a kid, and I was hooked. My career has mostly consisted of switching back and forth between security software development and penetration testing. I think that being able to build things as well as break them has made me better at both.
Q2: How did you come to collaborate on your recent book?
A: At Dartmouth, I had a chance to create a security course; which, for most students, will be their only exposure to the topic. I didn't like the choice of books out there, so I decided to write my own. John was my first Ph.D. student and helped with the course, and his black-hat and industry experience nicely complemented mine - hence, the collaboration.
[John]: Yep, what he said.