#3 - Melanie Ensign on reputation management in Information Security

The Standard Deviant Security Podcast | Bi-weekly show discussing cyber attacks, data breaches, malware, privacy issues, Internet culture and infosec

People that work in the security field are talented, courageous, strong individuals that often toil tirelessly to make the world a better place. However, people outside of the security community don’t always see all of the positive qualities and instead define us by some of our worst elements – cranky, inept people whose behavior borders on criminal activity. We all know this isn’t the case at all, but how did we get here and how can we fix it?
Episode #3 of The Standard Deviant Security podcast features a discussion about communication, public relations and reputation management in Information Security with Melanie Ensign. Melanie is a security communications advisor with experience counseling Fortune 500 companies across a range of disciplines including media relations, employee awareness, incident response, hacker relations, disclosure incentives, social engagement, and public policy. She also serves as public relations Goon for DEF CON and r00tz Asylum. Melanie holds a Master of Science degree in corporate public relations from Boston University.
Melanie discusses some of the perception and reputational issues the security community currently has and offers great advice on how we all can deal with the media attention that has been put on security, seemingly overnight. We also discuss how to deal with media and journalists, how to best communicate security concepts to business people, how to make Information Security more inclusive and many other topics.
Everyone in the security field, from academics to penetration testers will get a lot of value from the interview and learn how we can all put our best foot forward.
Please visit Melanie on Twitter at @imeluny and check out r00tz Asylum (www.r00tz.org), a great non-profit that Melanie is involved in that teaches kids how to love being white-hat hackers.
Please follow the Standard Deviant Security Podcast on Twitter @standeviant and visit the website at www.thestandarddeviant.com.