As technologists and hackers many of us have skills in intelligence gathering or social engineering, but we might not stop to think about how those same skills are being used against us to influence our purchasing decisions as we evaluate vendors for new projects. Now I know you're thinking, "I can spot that a mile away.". No free lunch, vendor party, or booth giveaway is going to sway ME, right? Well, I've got a confession to make - it goes way beyond that. I can be your ally, your advocate, and an asset to your organization. I can also be the secret weapon of the sales team - the guy who speaks both languages - sales and tech.
Let me walk you through what happens behind the scenes during the sales cycle at a typical tech company to influence you into buying from them.
I'm a programmer, network engineer, and operations specialist who went astray and got into security. As a reluctant Security Solutions Architect I'd prefer to work in a technical role, but I find myself good at what I do. I'm a telecom security enthusiast and #telephreak at heart. Even though I'm an introvert, I've spoken at a number of conferences, including DEF CON, DerbyCon, CarolinaCon, regional OWASP events, and a slew of vendor and industry telecom fraud prevention events. When not working I'm typically practicing Tibetan Kung Fu, shooting, or picking locks with Oak City Locksport. Come check out BSides Raleigh in October! http://www.bsidesraleigh.org