Never went to college but now owns his own academy.

In this episode of Off the Fence with Purpose Jim and Ellen chat to Paul C. Dwyer Founder and CEO of Cyber Risk International and the Cyber Risk Academy, an online training campus for individuals and organisations to help them become cyber strong and unified. The Academy mantra is “It Takes a Network to Defeat a Network” and its primary objective to foster collaboration and networking. to work together to support the industry and help defeat the "cyber bad guys".

It recently launched a Cyber Security Bootcamp for Women, to deal with the challenge of diversity in the cyber security sector.

The conversation covers Paul’s work with governments  and security organisations throughout the world and his thoughts on the best type of individual suitable for a career in cyber security. It covers gangster capitalism and ethical hacking as well as how people in the cyber world adapt a different persona to their real life. He also describes how many are entrepreneurs and innovators and not stifled by the requirement of real world business.

On a personal level Paul discusses how as a relatively shy person he had to work at operating on a global stage. He strongly believes that cyber security world is a meritocracy so to succeed it is not who you know or who your parents are. You have to work hard and have the soft skills necessary to network.

He was a Certified Novell Engineer at 18/19 and an IT manager in a corporate law firm before he was 21. In fact he celebrated his 21st birthday while on an assignment in Russia

Paul’s views on careers will resonate with many listeners. When recruiting he believes that the best approach to consider is that you are buying the person, not the skills. As an example he says that someone technically good may have been so immersed in one employment that they only know the language of that employment and may not have the understanding of how a business works.

This episode is a deep dive into the sometimes very dark and troubling side of cyber security and a wake-up call for every company and organisation when they face a cyber security threat.. It also highlights the level of ability and mindset needed by people who want to be among the cyber good guys. Just taking a compliance-led approach is a very low bar, he says.

This is an absorbing discussion touching on areas not covered in any other episode.

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