Celebrating Cybersecurity Awareness Month with Josh Schmidt

Meet Josh, the Partner in charge of Cybersecurity Assessment Services and our Oregon office. Since joining the team in 2014 as an entry-level staff member, he has advanced through various roles, combining his deep technical knowledge with a passion for ethical hacking and client engagement. Find out more about Josh in the Q&A below!

What is your role at BPM?

I am the Partner in charge of the Cybersecurity Assessment Services niche and Eugene, Oregon office. I was hired on the team in 2014 as an entry-level billable staff member and matriculated through most roles, so my background is deeply technical. Today, on a day-to-day basis, I actively participate in managing all client engagements, performing ethical hacking and developing new business opportunities. All our client relationships are built upon a foundation of trust, so it is crucial to develop them over the long term; many clients first hear about our team from our speaking engagements at conferences where we share our knowledge.

What sparked your initial interest in cybersecurity?

I had an early fascination with technology and building basic electrical circuits, largely due to my uncle, who was an avid programmer in the 1970s and gifted my family an early command-prompt-based PC. At age 10, I was learning about, i.e., breaking computer hardware; by age 12, I was doing basic programming. While helping move the family bookstore, my uncle picked up a non-fiction book and suggested I read it. The book delved into one of the first documented cases of cybercrime when a graduate student stumbled across a European hacker pivoting through a university’s computer system to steal data from U.S. military systems. From there, I was hooked.

Can you describe a mentor or role model who has influenced your career in this field?

Throughout my formative years and professional career, I have been extremely fortunate to always have strong guiding mentors at every job. My first mentor was during my high school years; he quickly identified my interests?in IT and allowed me to apprentice under him in an extremely junior helpdesk support role. This opportunity gave me the work experience and knowledge to get my first paid IT job at the local university several years later. My first mentor really instilled strong qualities that balanced the needs of end users and found creative solutions to solve problems on the fly.

What do you enjoy most about working in cybersecurity?

As clichéd?as it sounds, I love the continual learning and puzzles. There is quantifiably more information than any one person can master. This stokes collaboration within teams built of highly motivated and intelligent people who are driven. By leveraging my position as a leader, I can provide the mentorship that my career greatly benefited from and grow a team that can accomplish far more than I ever could as an individual contributor.

How has your understanding of cybersecurity evolved since you first started?

Reflecting on the past 10 years underscores what a formidable challenge security has become. The rapid pace of the landscape has made the exploits we performed a decade ago seem like child’s play in comparison. As technology has become embedded into the average person’s life, the opportunities for the modern threat actor have grown, and companies have been forced to adapt. This has created a continual cycle of innovation and research for all sides. One of the most vivid changes is the societal exposure and understanding of hacking; this has led to both an acceptance of the ethical professions and complacency regarding breaches.

Learn more about Josh here.