Georgia Weidman
Founder and CTO
Shevirah, Inc.
Washington, DC USA
“I’m always going to stand out, so I may as well stand out the way I like.”
Videos
By Roadtrip NationGeorgia Weidman
Milestones
My road in life took a while to figure out.
Both of her parents worked in technical careers, and her mom held a Ph.D. in computer science, so she had a female role model in technology from a very young age.
Her mom encouraged her to pursue tech, but like any typical teenager, she didn’t want to be anything like her mom, so she decided to major in mathematics instead.
She completed a bachelor’s degree in math, but as she started working on a Ph.D. program, she realized that math didn’t have many applications outside of academia.
Her parents still encouraged her to keep up her schooling, so she left her Ph.D. program and decided to get a master’s degree in computer science.
During that time, she participated in the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, where she was introduced to penetration testing.
The first team of penetration testers she saw was made up entirely of white men, but she kept the image of her mother in her head and pushed forward in her pursuit of the field.
After school, she got a government job as a penetration tester, but she soon realized that she wanted to take her career to the “next level.”
She’s since started two companies to improve various aspects of mobile device security, and wrote Penetration Testing: A Hands-On Introduction to Hacking, a popular industry handbook.
Keep following my journey
Education
Career
Founder and CTO
I am an expert in the field of smartphone exploitation and work to keep your devices secure.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Entrepreneurship
Technology
Accomplishing Goals
Day to Day
I'm a serial entrepreneur, penetration tester, security researcher, speaker, trainer, and author. Doing all of these things have prepared me well for founding a startup - as a solo founder, I've had to do literally everything that my company needs.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for high school students
While getting a degree is helpful for getting that first job and checking the HR boxes, practical skills are way more important in computer hacking than education. So I would recommend higher education but, if you are already computer literate, major in what you what. Don't get stuck in the idea you have to do only computer science if you are interested in other things.
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Peers:
"Taking on this grant would be a dumb decision. You don't have what it takes. "
Challenges I Overcame
Learning Issues
Interviewed By
Life Hackers
Cybersecurity careers and pathways
