Cybersecurity and Neurodiversity: Standing on the X

Typically, I don’t read. Rather, I get lost in the sea of letters. But this morning I came across an article on Forbes regarding the untapped talent pool in security and felt compelled to read. What I wasn’t expecting to result from reading this article was the volume of suppressed memories and experiences that had been buried within me for years.  

From childhood to present day, I have struggled with severe dyslexia and ADHD. It has been a difficult road for me throughout the years. Quite frankly, it has taken me a lifetime to build patterns and systems in my personal and professional life to achieve where I am today.

Reflecting on my formative years, I found that I was often written off by society’s institutional structures. It was not until college, 1989, where I found an avenue to get help and understand what my strengths and weakness were. For a long time, I felt like I was on an island by myself because I broke society’s norms. To counteract these norms, I took a large step outside of my comfort zone when I joined Project Success, founded by Dr. Nash at UW Oshkosh. This journey extended far beyond the walls of UW Oshkosh. When I later transferred to the University of Arizona, I also joined the SALT Center. These programs allowed me to understand my strengths, my ADA rights and provided me with strategies to bull through my weaknesses.

After I graduated, I struggled to find my footing in the professional industry in the mid to late 1990s. I quickly realized that as a candidate, I was a nonconformist. On paper and socially, I did not fit into the mold found in the industry’s job descriptions and had a difficult time articulating my accomplishments and demonstrating my aptitude to succeed. Consequently, I felt like many doors were closed to me. When I was offered a job, I felt I was underemployed or not a fit based on their expectations of my skills and abilities. The turning point for me, that allowed me to control my own future and leverage my auditory learning skills was landing a job in Direct Sales in Technical Staffing.

Based on my early life experiences, coupled with my early career struggles, I learned that a person is more than their resume. As a nonconformist, I enjoy disrupting social norms and changing the interview process to an intraview process. Essentially, I ask people questions that ask them to look within themselves, situate that to their strengths, and create sustainable market value.

Because of my ability to identify patterns, regardless of the marketplace, I understand that how we as candidates leverage and view our strengths and weaknesses allows us to narrate a compelling view for who we are and what we want to do. How we formulate our accomplishments and how we see ourselves allows us a competitive advantage based on the business problems that we have solved. I created a pattern or formula for accomplishments that helps neurodiverse talent to confidently articulate where and why they excel and the business value they bring. The pattern holds true regardless of if you are a CEO, bartender or Cybersecurity SME. 

Let’s fast forward back to present day and my epiphany based on Debra’s article. In many ways, I felt that Debra’s article was spot on in many ways regarding the value Neurodiversity talent brings to a company, the real cybersecurity talent shortage, and some best practices in recruiting, engagement, and training neurodiverse talent in this article.

However, I feel compelled based on my experience to call out the cybersecurity industry specifically. As an active member in the security industry, I’ve found there’s a common sentiment of paranoia shared amongst practitioners not standing on the X or not calling attention to yourself. This is where I see most Neurodiverse security talent misaligned in job responsibilities and/or labels causing many to be under employed in their current roles. 

I have spent the last 15 years in security infiltrating the human community. I have seen some incredible things in the last five years in this industry, beyond my greater experience. I found my way into groups of people that most people don’t know they exist and gained their trust. I’ve participated in some really cool things and have been lucky enough, to be thought of being a person who is helpful while staying off the X.  Today, I realized that to make a difference you may need to stand on the X, which is completely uncomfortable for me.

So, as I am standing here today on the X, I want other neurodiverse talent to know that:

"You are not alone, I can relate to you and I am Safe person you can talk too…"