CyberWire Daily - Roselle Safran: So much opportunity. [Entrepreneur] [Career Notes]

Episode Date: March 19, 2024

CEO and Founder of KeyCaliber, Roselle Safran, takes us on her circuitous career journey from startup to White House and back to startup again. With a degree in civil engineering, Roselle veered off into a more technical role at a startup and she says "caught the startup bug." After convincing a hiring manager that she could learn on the job, she transitioned to computer forensics and started on the path of cybersecurity. Roselle worked in government for the Department of Homeland Security and then to the Executive Office of the President leading all of the security operations. She jumped back into the world of startups and has stayed there. Roselle tells people interested in a career in cybersecurity to just apply. Learn as much as you can and go for it. We thank Roselle for sharing her story with us. 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. I think when I was in about fifth or sixth grade, I wanted to be about six different professions, ranging from doctor to ballet dancer and everything in between. It wasn't until much later that I had a better understanding of where there were opportunities and what was a good fit for me. My undergrad degree from Princeton is in civil engineering, specifically focused in environmental engineering.

And I did that for a year after school and then switched to more of a tech-type role at a startup. And I kind of got the bug for startups, and this was dating myself here, but back at the end of the original dot-com boom. Then I saw this really interesting position as a computer crime investigator posted for a law firm. I had no backgrounds in any of the skills required, but the job sounded fascinating, backgrounds in any of the skills required, but the job sounded fascinating and I was able to convince the hiring manager that I would learn all the skills on the job. And that's what really

started to take me down the cybersecurity path because I was doing computer forensics. I think I was 600 and something in the world to have an NCASE certification. And once I had that background in computer forensics, then it's actually really easy to get jobs after that. So then I eventually moved to the Department of Homeland Security. And there I was leading the forensic and malware analysis teams. And then from there, I moved to the executive office of the president. And there I was leading all the security operations. I will say it was a phenomenal experience.

I was honored to have the opportunity to work there. It was a very stressful experience because I was always concerned that there would be a major breach, that would be front page news. That did not happen under my watch. There was never a dull moment. And we were a 24 by 7 shop. And there was never an evening where I slept through the night. I was there during the government shutdown in 2013.

At one point, half of my team was furloughed, and so I went back to working on the night shift, doing analysis. It was a fantastic experience. It really helped me understand where there were technology gaps that needed filling. My job since then have been around helping to fill those gaps and improve security operations. And then my entrepreneurial bug came back because I had had all these experiences in cybersecurity operations, learning what worked, what didn't work. And that led me to found my first cybersecurity startup, which was called Uplevel Security.

Keycalibur is my second cybersecurity startup. So a very circuitous path to get to where I am. I am very focused on collaboration, making sure that everyone has a voice because everyone has great ideas. I certainly do not have a monopoly on great ideas. I like to give people as much room to be as creative and as innovative as possible and then hear everything that they have to say. And I'm very thankful with the team that we have at Key Caliber is it's just incredibly supportive and collaborative

and communicative. The definition of failing is very different for each person. But once you have in your mind failed and picked yourself back up from it, it's not hard to do it again and again. Because you know you have that resilience and you're not afraid of failing. You know that this is a momentary blip. I'm down per minute, but I'm going to get up and I'm going to do something else that's super exciting. I think the biggest challenge for entrepreneurs, especially when they're just starting out, is that fear of failure. It's great to just take a moment to pat yourself on the back

and say, hey, this was fantastic, and then you keep pushing forward. You can't rest on your laurels at any point. Anyone who is in college or looking at a career change, I always tell them, go into cybersecurity. There's so much opportunity that's not changing anytime soon, and you can take it in all sorts of different directions. I really try to encourage people to enter the industry, especially women.

We really need more women in cybersecurity. I often hear people say that they feel that they need more education before they can even apply for jobs in cybersecurity. And I tell them, just apply. Just learn it on your own and download free demo versions of every open source product you can get your hands on. And then just start applying.

Start applying, start applying because there's just so much opportunity. If you have the will and the capability to learn and learn quickly, that's what's needed. I'd say for everyone in cybersecurity, they should encourage one person to get into cybersecurity. We need to spread the word more because it's an exciting industry that needs more talent in it. And now, a message from Black Cloak. Did you know the easiest way for cybercriminals to bypass your company's defenses is by targeting your executives and their families at home?

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