We were lucky to catch up with Chad Butler recently and have shared our conversation below.

Chad, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Mission InfoSec has a two-fold mission.

1- Help organizations build, ship, and operate secure products (software).

2- Help aspiring security engineers gain the skills and experience they need to build a thriving career.

In downtown Seattle, there’s a restaurant named Farestart. They provide mentors and jobs for formerly incarcerated individuals. They gain the skills to run a restaurant. They get a job and a purpose that changes their lives.

The tech industry is struggling to keep up with the ever evolving tactics of hackers and criminals. There is a shortage in qualified security engineers. Yet, most companies won’t give aspiring engineers an opportunity because it would take time to mentor and nurture new talent.

I want to help aspiring security engineers get real world experience,
while working on actual security projects,
with mentoring every step of the way.

This will provide needed opportunities for the rising generation of security professionals and will supply the industry with world-class talent to help protect their organizations from harm.

Chad, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Chad Butler is the founder of Mission InfoSec, a security organization that helps companies secure new business through demonstrably secure products. He is also working to provide affordable security training to help prepare the next generation of security professionals.

Before devoting his work fulltime to Mission InfoSec, Chad served in security leadership roles for Amazon, Disney, and SAP. With 23 years of experience in the information security field, Chad has built five product and information security programs from the ground up and has first hand knowledge of what it takes to run programs at massive scale.

He is passionate about education and has taught courses for the SANS Institute, including penetration testing and secure development.

His commitment to nurturing talent in the InfoSec field extends beyond traditional institutions. He has created and taught his own courses for ISACA and private organizations. His most recent course, “Career Hacking Quest,” designed to help professionals grow their careers by applying hacker mindsets to job hunting, has helped over 1,200 students across more than 90 countries.

When not securing the digital world, he enjoys traveling and outdoor sports with his family.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I spent 23 years climbing the corporate ladder. I was invited to a senior leadership summit, that was attended by some of the most well respected leaders in Silicon Valley. I had made it to “the table”. Yet, when I looked around the room, one thing was clear. Everyone was miserable. I realized in that moment that the ladder I was climbing led to a miserable future.

3 months later, I was laid off and given the gift of being able to focus on making my side-gig a full-time gig. As the saying goes, “when the student is ready, the teacher appears”, a long time friend and mentor of mine became my second biggest advocate (next to my wife).

I’ve spent the last half year working on things that truly make a difference. I’m working to make the world a safer and more secure place. As we entrust more of our information and lives to technology, it is becoming more critical to protect those applications and infrastructure. I’m building a future where we can trust the technology we use.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

My target audience does not trust or appreciate traditional marketing. Social media ads, buzzword-laden posts, and email marketing fall flat. I have focussed on building authority and marketing by producing valuable content. I publish a weekly newsletter, named the Product Security Playbook. I share deep dives that security engineers, developers, and technical startup founders can use to build security into their software. I also publish daily tips and insights on social media (LinkedIn and X). Finally, I built an educational course to help guide my customers through the steps needed to secure their organizations. It is a collection of the most valuable tactics I’ve learned in my 23 years in the security space.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.missioninfosec.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chaddbutler/
• Twitter: https://x.com/cdbutler101

Image Credits

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