From Culinary Arts to Cybersecurity: The Journey and Humor of Dan 'Haircut Fish' Rearden

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Simply Secured

Simply Cyber Media Group

14 episodes

1 day ago

James McQuiggan brings inspiring stories of cybersecurity practitioners "break-into-industry" stories across all dimensions of cybersecurity.

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James McQuiggan brings inspiring stories of cybersecurity practitioners "break-into-industry" stories across all dimensions of cybersecurity.

Education

Business,

Careers

From Culinary Arts to Cybersecurity: The Journey and Humor of Dan 'Haircut Fish' Rearden

Simply Secured

28 minutes

1 week ago

From Culinary Arts to Cybersecurity: The Journey and Humor of Dan 'Haircut Fish' Rearden

In this episode of Simply Secured, host James Mcquiggan engages in an insightful and entertaining conversation with Dan “The Haircut Fish” Rearden. Dan shares his unconventional journey from various odd jobs and college culinary arts to becoming a SOC analyst.

Dan talks about his love for technology, self-guided learning through TryHackMe, and transitioning from IT help desk roles to cybersecurity. Known for his popular cybersecurity memes, Dan elaborates on the importance of humor in the community and how he uses it to connect and educate others. He also discusses his involvement in Capture the Flags (CTFs), current projects, the value of self-made tools in Python, and his future aspirations in detection engineering.

Episode Links:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danrearden/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@danrearden384
- Discord: HaircutFish
- GitHub: https://github.com/haircutfish

Resources Mentioned in Interview:
- Security+ - https://www.comptia.org/en-us/certifications/security
- ISC2 CC - https://www.isc2.org/certifications/cc
- Detection Engineering - https://www.detectionengineering.net

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction and Early Career
00:42 Welcome to Simply Secured Podcast
01:15 Meet Dan 'Haircut Fish' Rearden
04:03 Dan's Journey into Cybersecurity
07:58 Daily Life of a SOC Analyst
10:35 Business Email Compromise Insights
16:10 Python Projects and Scripting Skills
22:29 Overcoming Roadblocks in Cybersecurity
23:01 The Origin of Cybersecurity Memes
23:55 Creative Process Behind Memes
26:55 Impact of Memes in the Cyber Community
31:31 Capture the Flag (CTF) Strategies
34:16 Certifications and Learning Paths
36:15 Rapid Fire Questions
43:23 Final Thoughts and Farewell

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Connect with your host: James R. McQuiggan:
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/jmcquiggan
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jamesmcquiggancissp
Website: https://jamesmcquiggan.com
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jamesmcquiggan.cissp
Email: James@jamesmcquiggan.com
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Simply Cyber empowers people who want a rewarding cybersecurity career 💪
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Video Editing / Sound Engineering: Matthew Bliss, MB Podcasts - https://www.mbpod.com
YouTube Title Graphic: London Company
Video Podcast graphics: Katie McQuiggan (www.katiemcquiggan.com)
Music Provided by: AppleHillStudios at Envato Elements
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Presented by Simply Cyber Media Group
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