Ben Brown

About Ben

• In college, his passion was learning about people, their world views, and the human condition.
• While he was studying anthropology and international relations, he worked a few IT jobs on the side.
• But as he started to make progress on his IT jobs, he hit a glass ceiling: people started asking him to list his degrees, and were discouraged by the fact that he’d never finished high school.
• After he went back to school and completed an adult education program to earn his high school degree, a friend invited him to check out Akamai Technologies.
• He realized that the company’s goals were to make the internet a safer and more secure place for everyone, which really struck a chord with the anthropology side of his interests.
• Says that as more and more of our lives are brought online—from our clothing to our toasters—we have more vulnerable spots where we can be attacked by cybercriminals.
• The thing about his job that really lights him up is being able to teach others how to best protect themselves online.
• For him, success isn’t “the numbers in your bank account—it’s the sense of being at peace and having fun at what you’re doing.”