Cyber Odyssey: From Hacking to Entrepreneurship with Matt Devost
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Episode Summary
Learn about cybersecurity from the master himself, Matt Devost. I am honored to speak with Matt, who pioneered the cybersecurity industry when he was the first to hack his way onto an aircraft carrier. He revolutionized red teaming — to give an example of what this means, his team created money (yes, actual money) to deposit into their client's bank account, so they could then steal it, to prove where they had vulnerabilities. This impressed Accenture, who bought his company and brought him on to lead their global cyber defense practice. Matt is a serial entrepreneur, currently the CEO & Co-Founder of OODA, holds several board director and advisory positions, and is an active early-stage investor and founder of the Hack Factory start-up studio. In this episode, Matt shares a wealth of practical advice and insights on a wide range of cybersecurity topics, entrepreneurship, guidance for companies and leaders.
Chapters
00:00 Matt's Intro to Cybersecurity and Successfully Hacking an Aircraft Carrier
03:01 Founding Terrorism Research Center and Building a Counter-Terrorism Network
08:26 Advice for Others - "Find Your Carpet Club"
11:05 How to Encourage Your Children to Get into Cybersecurity
11:56 Balancing Legal and Ethical Areas as a Hacker
13:42 Matt's Childhood Learning to Hack and the Power of Trust
19:51 Black Hat Conference Review Board
22:06 Veteran Scholarship Program for Transitioning Veterans
26:44 Security Risks Identified at Black Hat
29:15 How the Cybersecurity Landscaped Has Changed over the Past Year
31:40 Customer Data Being Held Hostage for Ransom: How to Better Protect Your Data
35:19 How to Prioritize Cybersecurity Investment in New Threats vs. Compliance
36:29 Right-Sizing Cybersecurity Teams as Companies Grow
42:02 The Role of the Board and Advice to CISO to Get Executive Buy-In
44:50 The SEC's Push for Cybersecurity Accountability
47:47 The CFO's Role in Cybersecurity
49:32 How to Define Materiality in the Context of SEC's New Rule
50:58 Efficient Response Times and Detection of Threats
53:48 Cybersecurity Basics: Understanding Concepts Like Red Teaming/Purple Teaming, Zero Days
58:20 HackThink: A Different Approach to Problem Solving
59:50 The Role of Internal Audit in Auditing Cybersecurity Programs
01:03:01 Tangible Use Case: Existence of End Point Detection
01:06:53 Cybersecurity Basics: Key Terminology Like Spearfishing, Lateral movements
01:09:38 My Experience Getting Hacked
01:12:55 Matt's Experience Getting Targeted with a Zero Day
01:15:24 People As The Weakest Link: Advice for Personal Protection
01:18:19 Security Training and Awareness Programs: Gamifying For Best Results
01:20:40 Revolutionizing Red Teaming with Fusion X: Make it Real
01:24:42 Creating Money to Then Steal Money from a Client
01:29:30 Building An Incredible Culture and Maintaining High-Performing Team
01:35:10 Selling FusionX to Accenture
01:41:39 Embedding FusionX's Culture into Accenture
01:44:08 Matt's Transition to Leading Accenture's Global Cyber Defense Practice
01:47:50 Adapting Leadership Style in a Global Practice
01:49:36 Adapting Client Facing Style at Accenture
01:52:40 Advice to CISOs on Building High-Performing Teams
01:58:27 Origins of OODA and The Power of the OODA Loop Decision-Making Framework
02:03:46 Success Stories from OODA: Confronting the Gray Rhino
02:07:39 Hack Factory Start-Up Studio
02:09:23 A Reflection Back on Legacy and Advice for Others
02.15.21 Life in a Science Fiction Novel Life
02.22:49 Wrap Up and Special Thank You to MattGPT
About Matt Devost
Matt Devost is currently the CEO & Co-Founder of OODA LLC, a global strategic advisory firm with deep DNA in global security, technology, and intelligence issues. Matt began his professional career in 1995 hacking into systems for the US Department of Defense and Intelligence Community and over the past twenty-five years has emerged as an established leader in the cybersecurity, global risk, and technology domains. Matt helps clients identify, manage, and respond to global risks and uncertainties while exploring emerging opportunities and developing robust and adaptive strategies for the future. He also holds several board director and advisory positions and is an active early-stage investor and operates the Hack Factory start-up studio in Northern Virginia.
A successful entrepreneur, he has founded several companies including FusionX & the Terrorism Research Center and played a key leadership role in multiple global companies including leading the global cyber defense practice at Accenture, COO of iSIGHT Partners, founding intel director at iDefense, and EVP of Strategy and Operations at Tulco Holdings. He has served as a senior advisor to DoD, a professor at Georgetown and Columbia Universities, and is a member of the Black Hat review board. Matt’s unique approach to technology, business, and security issues is driven by a technique he calls “HACKthink” – applying a hacker mindset to analyze and dissect complex problems and develop innovative solutions.
Matt has appeared on CNBC, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, NPR, CBC, CBS News, BBC television, Australian television and dozens other domestic and international radio and television programs as an expert on terrorism and cybersecurity and has lectured or published for the National Defense University, the United States Intelligence and Law Enforcement Communities, the Swedish, Australian, Japanese, and New Zealand governments, American University, George Washington University, and a number of popular press books – magazines, academic journals and over 400 international conferences.
