CyberWire Daily - Jenny Brinkley: A cybersecurity rollercoaster. [Security] [Career Notes]

Episode Date: October 30, 2022

Jenny Brinkley, Director of AWS Security at Amazon Web Services (AWS), sits down to share her empowering story working through the ranks, and even co-founding her own company. While she did not have a typical upbringing in the industry, she credits her parents for ending up where she is now, as they told her that she could do anything and she decided as she was growing up that she could. She had the opportunity to co-found a small startup before selling it to AWS. She says that working in her position is like a rollercoaster, as no one thing is like the other, saying her highs are high and her lows are low. Being a woman in cybersecurity, she is working to empower more women in the field, Jenny says, "I think that we're living in such an interesting time where empathy, kindness, compassion, honesty, partnership in the security space, I mean, heck for any industry, but really for security and cyber security roles today, it's, it's the life blood and to be underestimated, especially as a female or because, you know, my background doesn't follow a cookie cutter pattern of what individuals think of when they think of individuals in security roles." We thank Jenny for sharing her story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to the Cyber Wire Network, powered by N2K. and VPNs, yet breaches continue to rise by an 18% year-over-year increase in ransomware attacks and a $75 million record payout in 2024. These traditional security tools expand your attack surface with public-facing IPs that are exploited by bad actors more easily than ever with AI tools. It's time to rethink your security. Thank you. Learn more at zscaler.com slash security. Hello, my name is Jenny Brinkley, and I'm a director in Amazon Security. I've always had this weird righteous streak in me. So there's always been this sense of how can I help and what can I do? I think so much of it was just trying to make those around me better.

I grew up with parents telling me I could be anything. And I've always been so thankful for that. I'm sure it's also has driven people around me crazy because I'll come back and say, no, we can do this. And so there's this element of having parents that give you that philosophy of daring greatly and like bleeding into the edges that you can't believe that you'd be able to bleed into or work into or dare to dream. And when I get into those spaces

and I get into those moments, it really pushes me to really tackle things without fear and creating a lot of safe spaces for people around me to try and do their best work as well. And that really has been prolific throughout my career. I've been doing a lot of self-reflection lately on how I got here. And when I first started, so much of my background was really serendipitous. I would find myself in situations where no one had done the job before. Nothing had really existed like it before. And I was this unusual creature that could bring together thinking big, communication strategies, and trying to connect

people to do things. And believe it or not, one of my first jobs was actually working for a property based out in the Pacific Northwest where I live called Vic Minimins. They developed these properties that have everything from breweries and wineries and distilleries and hotels and movie theaters and really created these spaces where people could come and experience getting a beer in a very different way. And I continued to move through roles where I could bring together what I care deeply about, which is people, their experiences, and how you connect them. And how do you connect them? So technology started seeping in more and more as I started going through the course of my career,

where I started seeing ways of how technology could be leveraged and used. And a big part of that was working on how technology was actually being implemented in retail environment. I did a lot of that work actually in partnership with Nike within their retail spaces. So being able to build out the infrastructure to manage and distribute a lot of that content was something that I completely had to learn on the fly. So I had to context switch a lot, but it ultimately got me to this place where I was able to work with up and coming technology, just in time information, while also thinking through all the different dependencies around it. And when I got into security, I mean, I completely fell into this space. If you had told me 10 years ago, I'd be doing what I'm doing today, I wouldn't believe you. So prior to joining AWS, I had the opportunity to co-found a cybersecurity startup.

And, you know, again, talk about serendipitous opportunities. So when we started the company, I did everything but code. So, you know, raising money, working with customers, working with our board of directors, like everything you could think of what was involved. So after 18 months, we had really great traction in the market and had started talking to AWS about the possibility of being a strategic investor. And as we started talking more and more, realized there was just a really awesome partnership that could be had. So it's been about six and a half years. could be had. So it's been about six and a half years. We sold the company to AWS and I first came on board working in product and then made the change to actually look at our compliance space

because it felt that there was so much opportunity to really learn about how do you make compliance easier for customers. And then quickly started realizing the marriage between compliance and security and privacy really needed some thoughtful ways of how you can engage and build not only communication strategies, but also programs for both internally and externally to really explain how people should perceive security and compliance at the type of scale that we were talking about at AWS. I've had people give me feedback before where, like where you have sold a company to AWS. There's a lot of people that can't say that. And I think that there's a line in a Rihanna song with Paul McCartney and Kanye West that I play back in my head from time to time about mistaking kindness for weakness. I think that we're living in such an interesting time where empathy, kindness,

compassion, honesty, partnership in the security space, I mean, heck, for any industry, but really for security and cybersecurity roles today, it's the lifeblood. And to be underestimated, especially as a female, or because my background doesn't follow a cookie cutter pattern of what individuals think of when they think of individuals in security role, we're changing it. And we're changing it because of the dynamic nature of where we are in the world today. I think in an industry that is met with, you do this, the horrible thing is going to happen to you, that sometimes doesn't align. And so I really want to change that dynamic and change the way that people really do perceive security

as not only just a business enabler, but a team that's there to really help and be this department of yes. And that's where you get to see a lot of the excitement and the joy that comes out of this job. The roles within security today are evolving and changing daily. My advice is, you know, think about your own experiences as you're trying to create and build. Where are those points of friction? How would you solve it?

How would you change it? And that could be from being on the front lines of teams that are building and creating those technologies and services and managing them. Or it could be something a little deeper in the sack. You know, when I talk to candidates that are considering AWS for roles, I talk about this place being a roller coaster. I mean, my highs are my highs, my lows are my lows. And what I love about that is it's completely unpredictable about what the day is going to bring. And when you have those moments where you're riding those highs, I always try to bank some of that magic to remind myself on the days where it's not so great. But I also, during this pandemic, have picked up cold water surfing. And the reason why I did it was for a couple of ways for me just to get away from being connected.

I think when you're in a security role, you're always waiting for that next page, waiting for that next slack. It's like this adrenaline hit. And I had to figure out ways to get other adrenaline that got me away from a device. If you think about the scale of the responsibility of what we need to support, so much of it is these like little iterative pilot. And so I would really want to remember to someone that created opportunities for people to try new things while at the same time felt that there was a nice landing spot on the other side, but really could push to make security an equal partner at the beginning of a conversation.

Because I think right now when people are dreaming, they think of security as this blocker in the background without realizing if you start in the beginning with security as that point of view, there is a lot actually that you can move even faster. And so it's probably a little bit of view, there is a lot actually that you can move even faster. And so it's probably a little bit of both like creating those areas of experimentation and also having security be front and center at the beginning of any conversation when you're starting to try something unique and different. And now, a message from Black Cloak.

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