Meet David Jacoby – ethical hacker with 30+ years in cybersecurity

Author, podcaster, advisor, ethical hacker and cybersecurity expert David Jacoby has spent more than 30 years finding and exploiting vulnerabilities. Today, he leads strategy at Syndis and is an award-winning speaker known for his live hacking demos and straight answers.

David has also guest lectured for our Cybersecurity Officer Bootcamp, sharing his experience with our students. We asked him a few questions about cybersecurity, what it takes to build a career in the field and why technology alone will never solve our security problems.

Why is it important to you to spread knowledge about cybersecurity?

“We won’t solve the problems ahead of us with technology alone. It’s just as important to spread knowledge about how we as humans should understand, use and relate to technology in order to stay safe online.

Security isn’t a product you buy, but something you build through knowledge, behaviour and responsibility.”

What do people usually ask when they find out you work in cybersecurity?

“The most common question is probably: ‘So, can you hack a bank?’

A lot of people have a pretty cinematic idea of what a hacker is, so I often have to explain what the work actually involves: understanding how systems can be misused, finding weaknesses before someone else does and helping organisations become more secure.”

“So, can you hack a bank?”

What advice would you give someone who wants to start working in cybersecurity?

“Be curious, but don’t be naive about how much it takes. I’ve spent an unreasonable number of hours, days, months and years in front of a computer experimenting, investigating and failing.

Cybersecurity isn’t something you simply learn through an education. The education is more like the beginning of an adventure.”

"Cybersecurity isn’t something you simply learn through an education. The education is more like the beginning of an adventure."

Why is cybersecurity particularly important to talk about right now?

“It’s actually no more important now than it was before, but the consequences are greater because more and more people, companies and societal functions are connected.

As more of our lives move online, the security surrounding technology also becomes more important to understand and talk about. Security, whether digital or physical, should be with us everywhere.”