An ethical hacker at one of the world’s biggest tech companies

Source: National Cyber Security – Produced By Gregory Evans

Charles Henderson gets paid to think like a bad guy. As an ethical hacker for IBM, Henderson’s job is to break into networks, applications, or physical locations to figure out how a real attacker would go about their work, exposing flaws and the impact those flaws might have on an organization’s security. Given the increase in cyber attacks and the need to bolster cyber security, there’s been a steady shift in corporations hiring their own hackers to “pen-test” (penetration test) online systems, networks, and physical locations, IBM says. In fact, Henderson is just one of the 1,000 security specialists the tech giant hired in 2015. We recently spoke to Henderson, 40, about what it’s really like to be a hacker for IBM. Here’s what he had to say: “Let me start by saying, I was a curious kid” “I grew up and still live in Austin, Texas, which has become a haven for young technologists with its vibrant computer security scene. I attended the University of Texas and studied Computer Science. “When I was 11, my father brought home our first computer. Within a week, I had become an active participant on the Bulletin Board Systems (BBS). Using these bulletin […]

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