Charles Henderson
Global Head of X-Force Red
IBM
Austin, TX USA
“The key to a successful career is charting new directions, going in a different way, and doing things differently.”
Videos
By Roadtrip NationCharles Henderson
Milestones
My road in life has been direct.
As a kid, most of his friends didn’t have computers, so when his father brought one home one day, he was completely fascinated.
At one point, his mom even told him, “You’ll never get anywhere if you just play on that computer all day.”
Even when he was in college, he assumed he wouldn’t find a fulfilling career path in tech because everything seemed to be centered around writing code.
While he understood how to write code, and respected his classmates who were building new software, he was always much more interested in breaking things.
However, he’d never seen a career path for “breakers” until later after college, when someone introduced him to a small company that was doing penetration testing.
He felt like he’d finally found his people, his community of fellow “breakers”; even today, he says his team’s mantra is, “If you can build it, we can break it.”
Says he’s still drawn to penetration testing all these years later because every day presents a new, interesting challenge.
He draws similarities between the field of cybersecurity and the pursuit of career “success”: neither has a finish line where success is achieved because success is an ongoing practice.
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Bachelor
The University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin
Career
Global Head of X-Force Red
I am considered an "ethical hacker", essentially I get paid to think like a bad guy.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Business
Technology
Problem Solving
Day to Day
My team, IBM X-Force Red, finds the ways to hack businesses before the bad guys. I specialize in network, application, physical, and device penetration testing as well as vulnerability research. I also occasionally do public speaking or media events on subjects relating to security testing and incident response.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for high school students
Independent study is key to succeeding in cybersecurity. Learn how to code, but don't worry about being great at it.
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Family:
"You'll never get anywhere if all you do is play on that computer all day. "
Challenges I Overcame
Death and Loss
Interviewed By
Life Hackers
Cybersecurity careers and pathways
