Life Hackers

[MUSIC] When people hear cybersecurity,, vague term that's, kinda, scary, but what does that mean?

>> There's just so much that we don't know.

Every day something new is coming up.

>> Our lives are becoming so connected.

Everything in our house is now being brought online and is now a huge attack vector.

>> My bank account number?

>> They can hack into your computer.

>> And my credit card number?

>> And steal your entire identity.

>> My Social Security number?

>> You can develop the most secure operating systen in the world, you can run all the security products you have.

But at the end of the day- >> This is the future.

>> Until people know just as muy as they do about looking both ways before they cross the street then it's still going to be a problem.

>> Cybercriminal activity is now more lucrative than trading illegally in drugs.

That's now driving people towards attacking healthcare providers, hospitals.

>> Steal your entire identity.

>> As a nation, we don't realize the importance of cybersecurity.

The threats are gonna get worse, the exploits get worse.

>> It's a national security issue.

>> But cybersecurity, it's keeping people safe.

Sort of like a super power.

>> We need to like, be superheros >> Who doesn't want to be a superhero, right?

I myself, I'm just starting on this journey to cybersecurity.

>> I'm still trying to wrap my around how to break into the field.

>> I don't wanna just get my foot on the door, no.

I want to get my foot in the door and I want to want run [MUSIC] Welcome.

>> Antwan.

>> Sweet, I'm home.

>> So, this winter, we have the chance of a lifetime.

>> We're gonna be taking a cross- country road trip my first cross-country road trip.

>> In a big green RV.

Here we are.

>> To interview top leaders of cybersecurity.

>> We're starting out in New York.

>> Our next stop is Washington, DC.

>> And then, we're driving to New Orleans.

>> We're heading down to Austin, Texas.

>> After Austin, we are planning to go to LA.

After that.

>> We're heading to San Fransisco.

>> And then, ending in Seattle.

[MUSIC] [SOUND] >> [LAUGH] >> My name's Mansi, I'm 24 years old.

>> I'm Emily, I'm 26 years old.

>> My name is Antwan, 32 years .

>> I haven't met either of them yet but spending however long we're going to be in an RV together we'll definitely find a lot of things that we all enjoy.

>> With three different individuals, but at the end of the day, from the cybersecurity standpoint, we have the same interests >> It's a very new field and because of that, the truth is there's just so much that we don't know.

Through this trip I hope to alleviate certain doubts and fears, like me and cyber security?

What is next.

So, I was born in Gujarat, India and as far as my family does, it's just my mom, my dad and me.

There's people that I look up to they're my best friends.

One night my mom calls me, and she's like, you know what, I can't log into my G-mail It turned out that somebody hacked into my mom's email account.

Because it hit so close to home right, because it happened to my mom, and my mom's my world, right.

So, I was wait, how can this happen?

That's when I got introduced to cybersecurity.

And so currently I'm a Master's student at University of San Diego And I'm in the program of cybersecurity operations and leadership It's my first step into the field of cyberysecurity or computers in general.

I've only been in it for 11 months.

And cyber security is so huge.

Because there's so many options there's so many things to pick and choose from.

My fear, I think, is just what is next?

[MUSIC] This is like someone's dream stretches on a map right now.

So, this must be some sort of fs center or yoga center or something >> Two indoor water parks.

>> These two people, they're just talking.

We came across this site to do live IP video cameras.

>> And new surveillance camera or a webcam with a default user name and password that someone hasn't switched you can watch it.

So that's pretty screwed up.

>> You think that like Oh, you have to like hack into people systems ad they must be like, these are like cool tools and whatever they can use and this is just a website anyone, anywhere can access it.

Czech Republic, this guy is working on his laptop in Korea.

And the worst part is that, the people in the videos they don't even know that they're being filmed or that that we can see them.

>> Yeah, it's kind of like big borthers always watching you don't have an option.

It's scary, but it's just the truth.

>> That's why I have this little swivel thing or whatever.

>> But I mean, it's a huge problem from like a cybersecurity standpoint, but it's also a huge problem from just a physical security standpoint.

Because if you're watching someones home surveillance camera and you realize they haven't been home in a couple days.

Well, hey-o, I'm gonna come knocking.

>> And a lot of this is because people are just illiterate.

So, they don't know.

>> That's just scary.

I'm Emily Cox.

I'm from Bloomington Normal, Illinois I've lived here my whole life.

Way too much time to be in one place.

[MUSIC] I've been doing a bunch of cybersecurity tutorials, a few certifications, self education.

It does make me nervous that I don't have a degree or really very much education at all.

[MUSIC] I just ultimately want to help people but I worry that like in the future I'll still be like struggling and drowning in self doubt.

I hope to just get a path that I wanna follow.

It's like a beacon of hope.

It's kinda what I need in my life right now, [LAUGH] I'm really interested in interviewing people in the field of cybersecurity.

Just really like pick their brains about thier lives, maybe that will give me some inspiration for how to go about it too.

[MUSIC] >> All right, guys we're on the road.

[MUSIC] We're about to just go into our first interview, Georgia Weidman, she's a pen tester and an entrepreneur.

Penetration testing is basically comapnies ask you to attack their network and you are trying to find all theese vulnerabilities so they can patch them later.

A hackers on the right side of the law, it just seems really bad ass.

>> Hi.

>> Hi.

Nice to meet you, I'm Emily.

Hi.

>> Hi.

>> I'm excited cuz I wanna be a pen tester someday.

And she's a woman in the field.

>> I did some computer science in school but I really like the cyber defefense club They had a red team which was penetration tester.

So, they pretend to be the bad guy and break into stuff.

So, that's what the red team did.

They broke in to our systems in the competition.

And by the end of the competition I was like I wanna be what they do.

[MUSIC] >> What you see is like the roll and like future of cyber security?

>> It's gonna get more and more important.

We're seeing things like Internet of things and we're seeing elections having online components.

More and more of our lives become connected to the Internet As a person who spends a lot of time studying this stuff, you can't be an expert on everything and there just more and more stuff.

The only secure system is well turned off, melted down maybe, buried, set on fire.

Like all those things together and then maybe it's secure.

But nobody can use that.

We wanna use Twitter, we wanna use Facebook, you know we want our cars to like self diagnose itself and tell the manufacturer what's wrong with it so it can get fixed!

We want these things.

It's like technology moves forward because of convenience, not because of security So security is never gonna be a 100% secure kind thing.

Which again, there's job security.

There's always gonna be jobs for us.

>> [LAUGH] >> When you were getting into the field of pen testing, what sorts of obsticals did you face?

>> I think, the big, obstical really was, like okay, you're a girl, girls don't do this.

I felt like people didn't take me very seriously.

Like I had a boss, who when I got my DARPA Cyber Fast Track grant, I had to quit my job and do the cyber fast track grant, and he was like, that's the dumbest thing ever Who do you think you are?

I saw him in a conference not too long ago.

And he came up to me, and I didn't recognize him.

>> [LAUGH] >> And then, he told me who he d I was like, yeah, you're the guy who said I'd never be anything.

[LAUGH] >> Right, [LAUGH] >> How did that work out for you?

>> [LAUGH] >> What are you doing now?

I wasn't that mean about it, but proving people wrong is a good motivator.

When I gave my first conference talk, it made people look up.

It was like, what?

A girl can talk?

So, when people say things, that I'm not good, I like to thank them.

I'm like, yes, you've given me the motivation to continue on.

Thank you very much.

I'm always gonna stand out so I might as well stand out the way I like >> Welcome to our humble abode.

[LAUGH] I knew we were gonna get a lot out of these things but I just didn't know I was going to get so much out of even just the first interview.

[MUSIC] >> Links are meant to be clicked.

This is awesome, can I just come with you guys.

>> Sure.

>> Yeah.

>> [LAUGH] Have a seat.

>> This is great, it's so big, you know?

>> [APPLAUSE] >> I can be a bus driver.

>> [LAUGH] >> If this info sec thing doesn't work out [MUSIC] My name is Antoine King.

[MUSIC] At the moment, I'm working two jobs and I'm currently pursuing my masters in cyber security and digital forensics [MUSIC] Everyday, I'm waking up at 4:30 am Do my standard eight or nine hours a day, catching a nap on the trains, on the bus, get to my next job.

I'm getting off work and I'm going straight to work.

I leave, it's dark.

I come home, it's dark.

All I really just wanna do is sleep.

Growing up, all I saw is family work, work, work And I never crossed anybody that enjoyed their job.

I feel like I'm doing the same thing that I hated when I grew up.

[MUSIC] My first interaction with a computer had to be my sixth grade year We were introduced to the Oregon Trail.

From that point on, I rushed to class.

It kind of just spiraled from there.

I graduated with my degree in computer information science.

I started pursuing my masters because we had a cyber security week and, I think a lightbulb clicked on in my head.

That's that kid in me coming back.

[MUSIC] I had to take that job and prety much kill myself working ten to three in the morning and sleeping in my car going or changing in my car going to the next job because I needed those jobs to help pay for school.

My main thought every time I get on the bus and put my head on the window is, when is this gonna be over?

>> I'm smiling cuz you're telling my story.

You are telling my story.

[MUSIC] My story is your story.

And so as a kid in Alabama we were dirt poor.

The thing that I got from my parents, was understanding that we came from Birmingham, Alabama.

Understanding the Civil Rights Movement, even though I was a little kid, I was a little, little kid.

I knew what they went through, and so, that drives me.

Because I didn't know how to get to where I wanted to go.

But I knew I really had to work at this.

Every day was a struggle.

Every day was a struggle.

But I stuck to my principles.

I ended up getting my Masters in Biotechnology.

I ended up going back and getting my MBA.

Worked in technology for years.

I've worked with industry, I've worked with government, with the Department of Homeland Security.

But it is a tough road.

It is.

I cannot tell you the amount of rooms that I sat in where I wasn't the only black guy, I'm the only minority.

And so, as you were speaking earlier, you're telling my story Because I know how it feels, I know what it is.

Nobody's gonna do it for you.

Nobody's gonna give you anything.

For you to actually get up and go get it, you have to tap into the passion >> So then, that being said, what is success for you?

Do you have some sort of goal in mind, do you have some sort of?

>> My goal is to make the nation more secure.

There's always the basic financial success, right.

But obviously, you have to eat, right.

You have to pay the mortgage.

But success to me is to be able to take my grandmother who was a part of the Civil Rights movement to take her to tour the White House, that is something she thought would never see in her lifetime.

That is the part that it gets me.

>> Just sitting, talking to you it give me, it's like you're a superhereo to me I'm nervous.

I know in life, I watch grandparents, I watch parents, I see a lot of people struggle, not necessarily doing what they love to do >> Mm-hm.

>> But just kind of doing what they have to do.

Like I just have to get by.

Like I watched my parents do that.

Never heard my mom ever in history coming home excited.

I'm getting a little emotional cuz it's like, that can't be the way of life.

>> So you need to feed off of that.

You need to feed off the fact that youwere watching something that was discomforting to you, and you need to remember that pain because it's the pain that helps you fuel your passion.

Understand what bothers you, understand what gets you down and then sort of, build a box around it Right?

Make yourself more resilient.

And the funny part about that is, that's exactly what we should be doing for cyber security.

>> [LAUGH] >> Right?

Figuring out what's important to us and putting it in a place where people can't get to it, damage it, mess it up, take it.

The key here is what is your goal, and what are you willing to do to get there So when you get back on that bus that's the first thing you should think of What is this thing that holds me back inside of me?

Not, what is the thing that other people are doing to me.

Not what is this other hurdle that I need to get across, cuz I don't have the right certification.

What can I do something about right now?

[MUSIC] I know this is not the end of the journey.

This is the beginning of the journey.

>> [LAUGH] Yeah.

>> So, yeah I'm available to you and all my resources are available to you.

So, I think I have 3,000 connections on LinkedIn.

>> Wow.

>> [LAUGH] >> And to me anyone of those connections that is not willing to help you you guys are not gonna be my connection.

So you got a new friend.

I'm gonna help you navigate.

>> Thank you.

Greatly appreciate it.

>> You got it.

No excuse.

[MUSIC] >> I'm speechless.

I don't have any words.

I don't have any words.

Him extending out a hand to help me get my foot in the door and help me succeed, that's what I've been wanting.

I needed this more than ever, I did.

>> I kind of got that sense of it where he's gonna be like checking up on us So now it just kind of ups the ante for me where it's like well I got to make sure I'm working really hard and you see that.

Like I don't wanna let Micheal Eckles down.

[MUSIC] >> Just out of the trip over all I pretty much dropped everything and put my life on pause.

As far as my lease, I just chose not to renew it.

My job, I kind of just put it on hold.

I just wanted to focus completely on this.

You know, I'm having the good thoughts, the bad thoughts.

Half of this side is telling you, are you crazy, [LAUGH] and this side is telling you, go after it.

Take every opportunity and chane but I'm just gonna put my all into it and just hopefully, when I finish this journey, I have my answer.

[MUSIC] >> This road trip and this expeperience has been like one of those roller coasters but you know where you're just about to get started on it, so you're all the excited and you hyour seatbelts on and you're like, ok, I'm ready, I'm ready.

But it doesn't just go zoop, right?

It kinda like slowly, steadily pulls it up, and I think that's what this first week has been about.

Now we're coming up to the part, we'll just be like, all right, lets take full charge on it.

And we're currently driving to New Orleans.

That will be our first long drive >> This is my first time actualy just taking that long journey anywhere I think the longest I ever drove is probably four or five hours.

I never got a chance to kind of take the family vacations.

Moments like that, that people experience growing up in childhood, I'm doing it now in my adult life, so I love it.

>> I think I'm still learning on how to get outside the comfort zone I think, especially for me, that's huge because coming from an only child I never had to really express or communicate in that way, and communication was not my strongest suit.

So I think I'm learning a lot about communication with others then I'm also learning communication within myself.

Someone has never forced me to sit down and like, and connect with those feelings, this trip in a way, is that.

It's like okay, you have nothing else to do.

We're driving on this road for eight hours or whatever.

Sit and just connect.

[MUSIC] >> Surf and turf.

Slow cooked roast beef with shrimp smothered in gravy.

[MUSIC] I made a vow with Mansi and Emily that I would try to be a vegan Since Sunday, a week today, I have not had any meat and I've kinda been eating more vegan options.

New Orleans, Nawlins, is my one cheat meal.

So, finally, when I got my cheat day, I cheated.

[LAUGH] Gator sausages, gumbo.

You name it, I ate it.

And it was just like the best meal ever.

[MUSIC] And now I'm back to no meat.

Yeah, that sucked.

[MUSIC] New Orleans is totally different from anything in the world.

It has that enchanting vibe about it where everything is just a little bit like, magical.

And I got to have my tarrot cards read, and that was super cool >> I don't look up the situation so much, but how to handle the situation >> That's what I need help with most.

>> Eros, intellect, perception, communication skills, tells me you're highlight intelligent, but you get lost which is why.

>> So lost.

>> Which is something that you have been fighting, and this is something you really need to embrace because it does show high level of intelligence, analytical energy, but when you're bored you create chaos.

You haven't focused.

You haven't put your drive.

You haven't put your warrior, k kick ass, take names shield madien energy It's time to do that.

That's what I have for you, Ms. Emily.

[MUSIC] >> All of this old muck from my life, it's just kind of rising to the surface [MUSIC] So, that's some of the stuff tht I've been doing on those long drives Just thinking about the future but also delving back into my past and like trying to work through some of things that are still just haunting me.

[MUSIC] I don't think we've talked to any leaders that didn't have a degree in something It's a pretty strong pattern that somehow you should be educated, and it just makes the whole task of trying to do what I wanna do without a degree seem almost impossible.

[MUSIC] Charles Henderson is the global head of X-Force Red at IBM, which is their elite security division.

His entire team is just a team team of pen testers, which is still what I want to do >> I still remember when the first computer came home to our house It was a big deal, and I remember my father watching him set it up and plug in the cord and I was 11 and I thought it was just life changing I still remember my mom telling me you'll never get anywhere if all you do is play on that computer all day.

I never once reminded her of that [LAUGH].

>> [LAUGH] [MUSIC] >> Were there ever people in your life who youfelt were trying to steer you down a path that was, in their mind, the safer thing to do?

>> So I had a lot of people that where trying to steer me to a different path And I think in many ways it actually drove me down the path I chose, more than anything just to prove them wrong.

I think if you'd asked me in my freshman year what I was gonna do when I grew up, I probably would have said, well, you know, I'll probably go be a lawyer or a doctor or something like that.

Every mother's dream.

>> [LAUGH] >> And as I got to college, I still was very interested in computers, security testing, penetration testing and all of that.

But I didn't see it as a career.

It was very difficult when we first came out, it was the wild, wild west because not only were we Inventing ourselves in the industry, but we were inventing the industry too.

I used negatives and doubts as inspiration.

And truth be told, I mean there were times where the negative voice was in my own head.

But it's important to persevere and really give it your all.

>> For me on the road trip, I'm trying to figure out how I can get into the industry without having a formal education.

I'm not sure if going to college for it, if I would do well in that sort of environment.

As painful as it may sound, school, important.

But you mentioned not having a technical background.

I've hired penetration testers that went to music school.

>> [LAUGH] >> I think the education is important.

But what I think is really important is to understand, education is a sign of commitment your ability to face a challenge.

You mentioned getting a late start.

It's one of actually the easiest fields to get a late start in, because everything is constantly evolving.

I mean, Targets change.

Technologies change.

I think that's very attractive for me.

I love a big challenge and I feel like everyday there's something new and interesting that's a challenge So, one piece of advice I can give in your career is take the risks early.

And to keep fresh aspirations, to keep new challenges, in your life so that it doesn't get stale.

At some point, you just need to roll the dice, take the plunge, and go for it.

[MUSIC] >> He said a little bit about the university thing and I liked his take on it.

He likes people to have degrees because it shows that they're committed and they can finish something.

>> Keep aspiring to new heights without fear.

>> I've been rethinking the path that I had thought that I had going to take.

I'm thinking about going back to school which wasn't something I'd really considered and I feel like that would make getting into the field exponentially easeir So that's been weird, but still have some reservations about it.

[MUSIC] Are you coming up here or not?

>> Could we get up?

But what if I can't come down?

I'm really scared.

Can we come down from here?

My God.

RV's shaking.

I've been in school all my life, right?

From elementary, middle high, to college to graduate school, and then once this program is done, then what?

But usually when you enter something that's unknown, you wanna go through something that's straight, and be like, okay, I'm taking it step by step.

Because there's so many options and there's so many things to pick and choose from, I think that creates a lot of hesitation, like what if thing doesn't go with that, or what if and like all these what if's are kind of infinite.

So is it part of our personality right now to just dive into something?

Probably not, right?

But would I like that to be part of who I am?

Yes.

I think that's something Im looking forward to getting a little more clarity on.

We're gonna be interviewing CEO of NSS labs.

Vikram Phatak My god.

[LAUGH] This is someone that I've been wanting to meet since the summer and in 20 minutes we're gonna be meeting him so I'm really excited.

>> In sixth grade my dad, he had a computer.

I started playing with it one night.

The program I had gotten, it needed more memory that I had so I figured to move it around, and I broke his machine.

I stayed up all night, literally re-installing DOS, it wasn't even Windows, to try and find where this file was on this computer so I could restore it.

It was a complete nightmare but I managed to do it without my dad finding out.

So if you're watching this.

>> [LAUGH] [MUSIC] I did my undergraduate in chemistry.

However, just a year ago, my mom's email got hacked, so I changed my route of study, and currently I'm enrolled in the master's program in cybersecurity operations and leadership.

And I have to say, I think the more I'm learning about the field, I think my interest in it is an exponential growth.

I was like, ow, I can apply it here, I can apply it there.

>> Well, I actually stumbled in myself, was back now a lot longer than I like to think about.

I thought I'd want to get into computer engineering, that kind of a thing.

And my father, being a business proffessor, he said you don't wanna be the IT guy.

He's the guy in the back of the room that doesn't trim his fingernails, long hair and smells bad.

And you don't want that.

And so I didn't do it.

From a university perspective, I didn't go into any of that.

I went to economics.

But I was always in the lab at night.

I had a computer.

I was hacking, then all of a sudden it became a thing in security And I'm like, well okay, I know how this actually works.

And so then, putting it all together.

I'm very lucky as a person that I'm doing something I love.

But it wasn't by design.

I just kept on following something I liked it and it turned out that I could make some money doing it.

>> I mean you're at that position you're in now, what were some of the road blocks?

>> I got married young, so I was 20 my wife was 19, we're still married 25 years later.

I remember going to the grocery sotry and deciding do you milk or ground beef?

Right, we had no money.

So the single worst job I ever had was washing dishes at a hospital in Philadelphia.

And I was the guy who was doing the communicable diseases stuff.

So that was an awful job.

I smelled, I would have to take two showers to get the stink off it was nasty.

And so, the way I [LAUGH] when I started working my way up the ladder, reminding myself of, well, I could be doing that.

Was always very helpful but I'd say make your own opportunities So I said to myself, I'm maybe smart, if that opportunity comes I'm gonna be .

Which eventually it did, I was prepared.

I knew Internet and how some stuff worked and then people started saying well can I pay you to do things?

And next thing I know, I had an ISP and next thing I know I learned bianary the whole Hextable and all that kind of good stuff.

So I think it was a large part of luck.

I mean, to think about as loving it, I just was doing it because I was having fun.

And it just turned into something.

But, I think the luck is when preparation meets opportunity.

>> So then, luck is nothing but when preparation meets opportun, what can we, and just us, but people who are interested in cybersecurity Students of cybersecurity do to prepare themselves for the industry?

>> Mostly, just go be curious and figure out what you're enjoying, and dig, And I think that's the same thing that goes with this, like if you start on the journey, one step at a time, don't measure where your're at, don't measure there's where you wanna go, cuz it's just too far.

If you think of goals in bite sized chunks, and with little bit of time, eventually you get there.

Just know that if you keep plugging away it will work out.

Right, I'm a big believer you do the right things, good things happen.

>> I love that his, peace of advice was to prepare ourselves for our oppurtnuity.

which is just like get something and get into it.

Actually, all the leaders have said something along those lines they just make it seem like, yeah, why haven't I done that?

Why haven't I done it?

I think that's what I'm taking t from this road trip is when eves just like, just do it, just dive in.

[MUSIC] Personally, I'm one of those people like I don't have a goal.

I'll just stay still like I cant take a single step without knowing what I'm working towards.

But it wasn't until yesterday's interview with Vikram Phatak.

And he was saying, follow something you love then you're instantly gonna be better at it.

The more I learn every day about cyber security, the more I'm like, okay, I'm ready to immerse, I'm ready to do this.

[MUSIC] Hello, Pacific Ocean.

[MUSIC] >> We're three weeks through the trip, I feel like each time we go to interview somebody or drive or head to a new city, it feels like I'm starting over again.

There's a sense of a new person, a new city, a new information to gain or new insight to kinda look at.

>> With that physical movement cross country trip, that moved my mental journey too.

I'm learning so much more about the industry.

But, also about people and then all that boils down to myself.

>> For the next week, I hope to figure out a little bit more about what I hope to gain out of my future besides just being a pen tester.

And to learn more concretely like what's next steps I'm going to take even if that's just me figuring it out for myself.

[MUSIC] >> I'm about to roast some marshmallows and have a good SMORE for the first time ever, ever, ever.

[MUSIC] >> [LAUGH] >> This is so freaking good.

I can eat this for the rest of my life.

>> [LAUGH] >> How did I miss this for so many years?

[MUSIC] >> So we're at Cylance in Irvine, California.

>> LA!

>> [LAUGH] >> We're about to interview Stuart McClure, the CEO and founder.

His company was the first company to combine machine learning and artificial intelligence with the field of cybersecurity.

>> Like the founder, the creator of this.

>> Yeah.

>> He's just such a big shot.

It's gonna be awesome.

>> [APPLAUSE] >> Sweet.

[MUSIC] >> How's it going?

>> Antwan.

>> Antwan, yeah, nice to meet you.

>> Hi, I'm Emily.

>> Emily, [INAUDIBLE] >> Nice to meet you.

[MUSIC] >> Specifically how did the idea to combine machine learning and cybersecurity come about cuz your company did something that had never been thought of before.

>> Yeah, well this is how I came, I was in tear one antivirus company that really couldn't prevent anything.

I mean it was embarrassing I'd have to fly all around the world just apologize continuously.

The deploy work called myself the Chief Apology Officer and I didn't eve call myself the chief.

So, as I was talking about my book, and people would ask me to go speak about my book, Hacking Exposed and almost always get the same question which was, hey Stu, you must be a pretty big target right?

You're exposing all these hackers and how they work, they must come after you constantly?

And I'm like, yeah they do all the time.

They're like, okay, what do you use on your computer to protect yourself?

And I get this question, I'm like.

Okay, I neither going to lie to a thousand people, a pretty bold face lie, or I'm gonna be the shortest tenured CTO in the history of this company.

I'm just gonna get fired tomorrow.

And I'm all right, screw it, I'm gonna get fired.

So, I said all the truth.

I said I don't use anything on my computer except my brain.

That's it.

Because all I do is I take any input into the system, email, URL link, a USB stick, whatever, it is right?

Well, what do all of these elemements have to do to get something bad to run?

Wll, it has to execute?

So, I get in the way of execution.

I say uh-uh, I'm not gonna open up this PDF right away.

I don't care if it comes from Emily.

I love her, she seems like a super nice person.

But, I'm not gonna open up anything, no matter what, because what she sent me actually has an IP address embedded in it, that goes to a Chinese web site.

Well, there's no need for me to go to a Chinese website, I'm good.

>> [LAUGH] >> And that's what I would do constantly, right.

Throughout my life.

And I started to think to myself and I'd answer that question over and over and over again.

I'd think, why can't we train or prgram a computer to think like our brains?

I asked my chief scientist at the time.

Ryan Perma say, why can't we do this?

Let's go start a company and do something crazy like this.

And we actually implemented a leanring model to take two data class sets good files things that are healthy and bad files things that are malicious, And train to a point of getting a math model, a vectorized map of what's good and bad.

So now, it goes on every computer that were installed on it can in real time before anything executes do exactly what my brain did.

Stops it, looks at it, and determines whether it's good or bad.

And we are up to now 15 million features that we can track and map and build vector maps to, 15 million.

[MUSIC] Welcome to our humble abode.

I think it lit in me this fire to never give up.

It was all a lot of work for sure, but I just never gave up.

And so, for the things that you really wanna do and go get done, the trick and secret to life, is literally as simple as never giving up.

>> And try to figure out in you what really sparks an energy in you.

I think that's the key.

>> His biggest advice that he kept repeating throughout the whole thing was just like don't give up.

With cyber security it's like well not only am I interested in this thing but, I actively want it to be a career.

I've been thinking about how I'm gonna put it all into action.

And I'm pretty sure in the fall I'm gonna go back to school.

[LAUGH] [MUSIC] Right now we're in route to San Fransisco, where we'll be meeting with Window Snyder.

The other two have words like, we're in San Fransisco.

All I can think about was like Full House.

The Full House house, I get to stand in front of the house and just to see that.

So there was Michelle, Stephanie, Uncle Jessie, Becky.

Kimmy Gilbert, she stayed next door.

Probably in one of these houses.

I forgot about DJ and her boyfriend, Steve.

>> And Danny.

>> And Danny.

>> Wait, all in this one house?

>> Yes.

>> No wonder it's called Full House.

>> Full House, yeah.

[MUSIC] [LAUGH] Seeing it from Emily and Antwan's eyes, seeing them on that Golden Gate Bridge and being like, we're on Golden Gate Bridge, or know or, Antwan was like, is this bridge the Bay Area?

[LAUGH] There's a lot of funny moments.

[MUSIC] >> This is stuff you see on TV, and you're like, and I'm doing .

That's just been amazing.

It's been mind blowing.

San Francisco.

We had a chance to visit Fastly, talked to Window Snyder, she was kinda like always destined to be into the cyber world.

She worked at big name companies like Apple, Microsoft, McAfee.

>> So you've had a really, varied career.

You've kinda been all over the place.

What do you view as your greatest triumph, in your career so far?

>> I'm really proud of the work I did in privacy at Apple.

Which is trying to keep the data in control of the user.

So what that means, it's encrypted on this device.

it goes through the cloud, encrypted.

And it's decrypted on this other device that you control and the keys are only available on the devices.

And Apple doesn't have te keys So Apple just has an encrypted lump and can't do anything with this data.

So, this whole idea that if you have something sensitive, so you have to build a system around it to protect it.

The other way of protecting that data is to not have it.

>> [LAUGH] >> And which one of these is easy?

[LAUGH] Right?

>> [LAUGH] >> I think that is going to make the biggest difference in people's lives, I mean especially the mobile devices are so personal.

So giving people the tools to be in control of their privacy, for me that feels worthwhile.

I'm glad that I was able to contribute to that.

>> What kind of advice would you give to people following their dreams and staying with it?

>> Well, first of all, do you love it?

>> Yes.

>> Yes.

>> Are you sure?

>> Yes.

>> Yes.

>> Okay.

[LAUGH] But I 'd say read every.

I'm constantly immersed in what's happening in the industry And when new stuff comes out, we all read it, and analyze it, and understand what was different here.

I would, take your doctor, right you hope your doctor is reading up on the latest research, right?

There's probably no one standing over their shoulder making sure that they're reading the latest research on this technique etc, but I still hope that my doctor is doing that.

It's more than job, take that context and apply it someplace new and use it to build your own personal toolkit.

>> Every single leader that we have spoken to is extremely passionate about the field.

And I think when you're super pasionate about something it's just so contagious.

And because of all the pressure, internal pressure whatever, I've always kept the cyber secud the career and all this stuff as like, on this pedestal right up here, I need to work all the way up there to reach that.

And I think they all kind of brought that pedestal down so much and now it seems like it's on my same road.

So, I can just kinda step into it.

[MUSIC] I'm nervous to return back to the normal way of life.

These last two weeks took me out of that work, work, work zone that I was in.

So, I'm just trying to apply some of the stuff I've learned already I'm kind of like, can I really actually do some of the stuff these guys have been telling me?

Emily, she has a tattoo on her right arm, as we talked, and I was like, on the road I'm going to get it on the opposite arm, the exact same thing.

A lot of stuff has destroyed me and I let it.

I had it within me to stop it.

This is something not only will connect both of us forever but it's symbolic to my life.

>> He's been through a lot in his life and he has faced every challenge that's come his way.

And it'll also be attached to a friend, that I really care about.

>> It says, destroy what destroys you.

[MUSIC] I don't feel like it should be over yet.

It's a weird, sort of time warp thing going on.

>> Mansi wanted to see snow like, that's all she talked about.

We went to this snowmagadden trail.

>> And man, was it cold.

[LAUGH] >> Oh my god, this is snow, look!

I'm based in sunny So Cal and so there's no snow there.

So I haven't experienced it.

And I think it's so awesome that everyone agreed to it, especially Antwan cuz as soon as he goes back home like that's all he's gonna see.

[MUSIC] [NOISE] You wanted snow?

Take it.

You wanted snow!

>> [LAUGH] >> [LAUGH] [MUSIC] >> We went to Microsoft.

>> We visited Microsoft, I was nervous.

Microsoft, and get to go to the forensic lab, this is something I'm studying at this very moment.

I couldn't sleep at all, I even got up at like two o'clock in the morning and I put out my clothes like it was the first day of school or something, I was that excited.

[MUSIC] This is a small device.

It's the type of device that might run a signage, say, in an airport.

The counterfeit, sticker, certificate of authenticity, a stolen key from China.

A lot of the great stuff happens in the lab because the criminals keep evolving and we need to continue to stay on top.

There's always something different.

Somebody in Japan is seeing something we've never seen before.

Or we get a new piece of counterfeit coming out of German, who knows what it might be.

[MUSIC] Okay, so we gonna go old school for a second.

>> We got a chance to do some actual physical investigating type stuff.

This is what I was looking for.

>> Three products, two of each, one is legit, one is fake.

Here's a light, maybe shine that on some places.

>> I think this is real.

That one's fake.

>> This one's actually the real one.

>> Check this out, you turn it one way.

>> It says genuine.

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah, did you figure it out Emily?

>> Well, I can't say with any level of certainty, But I think this one is the real one, And this one isn't.

>> I see.

Can you feel, use your fingernail right there.

>> That's a sticker.

>> That's a sticker on.

Does Microsoft would use a sticker?

>> No.

>> Not to toot my own horn I'm the only one to guess correct.

This is the fake one ad that's the real one.

>> You nailed it.

Good.

>> I nailed it.

>> [LAUGH] >> [LAUGH] When I solved that and just listening to her, that aha was there.

That spark I felt as a kid, playing Oregon Trail, I felt it that very moment >> I see myself in all of you.

So much of what you all have said earlier reminds me of where I've been.

Trying to figure out who am I?

What do I wanna do?

I think some of it is knowing what you want at the end of the day.

That is really important.

What do I visualize in my head is success.

And I think taking the time to actually articulate what is success will help you stick to it.

I wanted something that really challenged me and made me really proud of when I told people what I did.

The thoughtfulness that you're bringing to your lives is amazing.

Scaring yourself and putting yourselves in the these situations makes you so much stronger, you're gonna be so strong from this.

I see it, you are awesome, and you're going to continue to be awesome.

>> From start to finish, I've seen myself evolve.

And I'm just kinda ready to close that old negative chapter, I wanna be the digital forensic cyber investigator.

Visiting Microsoft, I got that assurance times ten.

>> This winter, I learned that not all who wander are lost.

Everyone's path can be a little bit straighter, it can be a little bit curvier.

To me, that change is my whole foundation of thinking.

>> I wanna take the training wheels off and just dive head-first, because there's so much that I have to do.

>> Every single leader said, figure out whatever is going to make you the happiest, and then do it.

>> Well, first of all, do you love it?

>> Yes.

>> Yes.

>> Are you sure?

>> Yes.

>> Okay [LAUGH].

>> It's amazing, the shortage of cyber security professionals.

And the shortage that we're gonna have.

>> There's just not enough people who are enthusiastic and coming as fast as we need to.

>> Thank you.

>> This field is perhaps one of the most accessible fields that's out there.

And guys like you, there's a place for you.

>> When it comes to entering the field, I'm like okay, I'm ready to immerse, I'm ready to do this.

And I got that through this trip.

>> Just go for it.

What's the worst that could happen?

>> Figure out what really sparks an energy in you.

I think that's the key.

>> I'm positive, 100% positive, that cyber security is for me, because of this winter, I found out where I belong.

[MUSIC] >> I've been trying to figure out how I feel about it being over for the last few days.

You say goodbye to a bunch of people that you've been hanging out with for a month and, you say goodbye to traveling across the country in a giant green RV.

And you say goodbye to meeting all of these really impressive leaders.

[MUSIC] It's the end of anything is sad but, I'm also really happy to see what comes next for me.

[MUSIC] >> This is it.

[MUSIC] I'll see you guys.

[MUSIC] >> This winter, I explored, not only the country, right, not only the industry of cybersecurity, but I explored myself.

Now, we'll all individually go back into our lives, But we'll be fueled because of this trip.

[MUSIC] >> It just makes you think, well, what is possible if I just, try?

If I don't let all of the fears, and the what if's, get in the way,what could I do?

[MUSIC]