If you can't take a joke, I can't take you seriously.

Fractional CISO | Cybersecurity Executive | Author | Host of the What To Know Show

I grew up in Brudenell, Ontario, a ghost town in the Opeongo mountains. Some of my classmates didn't have phones, electricity, or running water. I dug my father's grave at 15. At 18 I rode a 125cc motorcycle 400km to Brampton in the rain with a tent and no plan. Got a night job. Didn't go home for Christmas or Thanksgiving. Never looked back. That was the beginning of 40 years in technology.

I'm a cybersecurity executive specializing in fractional CISO engagements. I've worked for multiple companies as a CyberSecurity Officer including a multinational software company with 2,000 employees. Zero reportable incidents. SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, Common Criteria, HIPAA, and GDPR compliance achieved. I'm also the author of The Rake and the host of the What To Know Show on YouTube.

Pragmatic security. Security that enables the business, not one that slows it down.

I've sat in the boardroom and the server room. I know how to translate risk into language executives act on, and I know how to build the technical controls that back it up. I've read over 400 technical and business books. Passed 31 certification exams, 11 of them in beta, when no study guides existed. I learn by doing, and I've been doing this since 1977.

It's counter intuitive, but on the race track, all things being equal, it's the vehicle with the best brakes that wins the race. The ability to brake hard, when needed, means faster lap times. Security is like that, sometimes you have to put on the brakes, to get things done quicker in the long run.