As a successful digital agency that works with a number of cyber security clients we are often asked for the secrets of our marketing success. While we are not in the business of giving away our recipes (‘cos there aren’t any magic potions), one golden rule we do implement is following and engaging thought leaders on social channels.
Why? Well firstly, cyber security is a fast-paced sector and marketing teams can’t afford not to keep up with every development. Secondly, as a recent Edelman and LinkedIn report reveals, 47% of C-level executives said that they thought leaders influence buying decisions.
So in addition to LinkedIn, we strongly recommend using Twitter to follow and engage cyber security leaders and security gurus; it will help your company while building your own focused following.
Below, we’ve listed the top 12 cyber security gurus for you to follow:
- Mikko Hypponen (@mikko) has been working at F-Secure since 1991 and currently acts as their ‘Chief Research Officer’. Mikko is a strategic thinker who sees the big cyber security picture. Keeping up with his views and discussions on Twitter is a must! PC World placed him as one of the 50 most important people on the web. He describes himself as a ‘Supervillain’ and should not be missed.
- Graham Cluley (@gcluley) has worked in IT security since the early 90s. He has held a number of strategic and high-level posts for the likes of Sophos and McAfee. He is also a veteran member of the Infosecurity Europe Hall of Fame. As well as following Graham on Twitter, sign up for his blog where he reports on breaking news and cyber security issues.
- Katie Moussouris (@k8em0) was formerly Chief Policy Officer at HackerOne, and more recently founded Luta Security. Katie is well-known for creating the Bug Bounty program at Microsoft and advises companies and governments on vulnerability disclosure.
- Jeremiah Grossman (@jeremiahg). As well as being a professional hacker,Jeremiah is Chief of Security Strategy at SentinelOne. Jeremiah has written a number of books, including ‘Web Security for Dummies’ and has made appearances at cyber security events all over the world. Jeremiah is a prolific Tweeter and jokes around his recently tweet: “Chief-Everything-Officer. Don’t let anyone tell you different.”
- Brian Krebs (@briankrebs) is a former Washington Post journalist with a long history of writing cutting edge exposes and breaking news articles about cyber security. He writes from his own blog KrebsonSecurity. Krebs often announces news items on Twitter, so look out for his usual straight shooting tweets: “Don't assume the "proof of concept" is all there is. Dig deeper. Assume it's all compromised.”
- the grugq (@thegrugq) is a long-standing security research par excellence, adept at the forensic analysis of cyber security threats. His tweets are often retweets of other important security issues; his timeline offers not only his own personal insight but an important collation of security research.
- Robert M. Lee (@RobertMLee) is a founder of the industrial cyber security specialist company Dragos Inc. Robert was awarded the 2015 ‘EnergySec’s Cyber Security Professional of the Year. He tweets often, not only about cybersecurity but about his many appearances at cyber security events. A recent tweet advised: ”Attackers have to get it right every step along the way. Defenders only have to detect 1 thing.”
- Melissa Elliott (@0xabad1dea) is a professional application security researcher at Veracode. Melissa is a prolific tweeter posting on everything from cyber security to gaming. She is also a prolific writer worth following.
- Bruce Schneier (@schneierblog) is one of the most respected cyber security experts in the world. He is a regular keynote speaker at the world’s largest security events and a ‘must see’ presenter. Bruce tweets regularly about security issues and earns his title as security technologist .
- Paul Asadoorian (@securityweekly) is the CEO and founder of Security Weekly. Look for his latest podcasts on information security issues and events and keep up to date with industry happenings.
- David Ulevitch (@davidu) was one of the founders of OpenDNS, a company that was eventually bought by Cisco. David is currently the General Manager for Cisco's security business. David recently tweeted: “You don’t need to have hackers or a data breach to have a breach of privacy, a breach of expectations, or a breach of trust.”
- Runa Sandvik (@runasand) is the Senior Director of Information Security at the New York Times. Runa’s interests and experience sit at the convergence of technology, law, and policy. Follow her on Twitter to see how she advises media organizations on how to improve and present their cyber security position.
This group of cyber security enthusiasts are working at the cutting edge of the industry, and their history in the sector is noteworthy. They may not all be your niche’s chosen expert so to select yours, check out their previous posts and who follows them. Make sure that whoever you end up following fits your audience. Build up a profile of who they interact with, and the voice they use - does it suit your clients? If yes, then go and engage on cyber security with the experts; worth every moment of your time to stay updated and gain kudos and gravitas in the burgeoning playing field.
