My Cyber Why — Tyler Cohen Wood, Author, Private Consultant, & Former Senior Intelligence Officer DoD
Welcome to the May 2020 edition of “My Cyber Why”, special Give-a-Way edition! [Give-a-Way now closed! Congratulations to the winners!] A glimpse into the life and work of experts from around the world who have dedicated themselves to protecting cyberspace.
There’s no shortage of scary headlines about the latest hacks and malware releases. But what doesn’t make the headlines are the inspiring stories of the people who work every day to make the cyber world a safer place. These are their stories and cybersecurity is their passion.
In each episode guests answer four questions:
1. Who are you?
2. What do you do in cyber?
3. Why do you do it?
4. How can people get involved or learn more?
Today’s guest is Tyler Cohen Wood, a Private Consultant and Former Senior Intelligence Officer with DoD. Tyler is also the author of Catching the Catfishers the book that explains how to Disarm the Online Pretenders, Predators, and Perpetrators Who Are Out to Ruin Your Life. During her career, Tyler has served as cyber branch chief for an intelligence agency within the Department of Defense (DoD). She is known in the intelligence, law enforcement, and computer forensics communities for her work with digital forensics and cyber intelligence and has keynoted at conferences across the country. She previously worked for the DoD Cyber Crime Center (DC3) as a senior digital forensic analyst, using her expertise in intrusion, malware analysis, and major crimes to bring about many successful prosecutions. Before joining DC3, she was employed at IBM and NASA as a senior forensic analyst.
Learn more about Tyler and how she’s helping all of us steer clear of catfishers in the video below. AND — the first three people who direct message me on LinkedIn with the correct answer to this question: Where had Tyler moved when she landed her first cybersecurity job? (answer can be found in the video 😉) win an autographed copy of Tyler’s book!
Timestamps
[0:00] Welcome Tyler!
[0:48] Who is Tyler? Virginian, canine enthusiast
[1:40] Keeping troops safe with cybersecurity
[2:30] Motivation for “Catching the Catfishers”
[3:05] Children and parents reading together, becoming empowered together
[4:22] Parents’ social media a pathway to put their children at risk
[6:02] Got into cybersecurity by accident, interest in law enforcement plus tech equals cybersecurity
[9:15] Things you post now (or about your children now) can come back to haunt you
[10:26] Leverage online resources to help keep assets, employees, family protected
[11:50] Important (especially now) to convey to children that things will get better. Don’t let the bad guys weaponize fear.
[13:18] Thank you Tyler!
Thanks for listening!
Want to get involved? Do you or someone you know have a great Cyber Why to share? Reach out to me on LinkedIn or Twitter
