--- title: "Women in Information Security: Valerie Thomas" description: "Women in Information Security: Valerie Thomas" image: https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/hubfs/Images/Events/In%20The%20News/headway-5QgIuuBxKwM-unsplash.jpg --- # Women in Information Security: Valerie Thomas [Software Vulnerability](https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/in-the-news/tag/software-vulnerability), [Speaking Engagements](https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/in-the-news/tag/speaking-engagements), [The Art Of Deception](https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/in-the-news/tag/the-art-of-deception), [Ics](https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/in-the-news/tag/ics), [Industrial Cybersecurity](https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/in-the-news/tag/industrial-cybersecurity), [Penetration Testing](https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/in-the-news/tag/penetration-testing), [Scada](https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/in-the-news/tag/scada), [Security Career](https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/in-the-news/tag/security-career), [Valerie Thomas](https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/in-the-news/tag/valerie-thomas), [Ethical Hacking](https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/in-the-news/tag/ethical-hacking), [Industrial Systems](https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/in-the-news/tag/industrial-systems), [Iot](https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/in-the-news/tag/iot), [Kevin Mitnick](https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/in-the-news/tag/kevin-mitnick) [ Mitnick Security| ](https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/in-the-news/author/mitnick-security) 05.07.2018| 1 MIN READ TIME In my last interview, I spoke with Jen Fox. She’s a Senior Security Consultant who specializes in compliance. This time, I had the pleasure of speaking with Valerie Thomas. She has a lot of expertise in both penetration testing and industrial cybersecurity. **Kim Crawley**: Please tell me about your cybersecurity role and how you got there. **Valerie Thomas: **My current role is an Executive Consultant with Securicon, which equates to the lead technical consultant of the penetration testing group. The majority of my time is spent performing penetration testing and vulnerability assessments of various software and hardware, also known as hacking all the things. Securicon is heavily involved in industrial control systems (ICS) and supervisory control and acquisition (SCADA) spaces, so I spend a lot of time in power plants and other critical infrastructure facilities. My niches are physical penetration testing and social engineering, which means that I get paid to break into buildings. I wasn’t aware that ethical hacking was a career option until my senior year of college after reading ***The Art of Deception*** by **Kevin Mitnick**. I graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Electronic Engineering and immediately began seeking a network security position. However, this was in the early 2000’s before cybersecurity was a mainstream career field, so a lot of knowledge was obtained by knowing someone who could teach you about ethical hacking and vulnerability assessment. I entered into a Department of Defense internship program for network engineering and basically sought out those who could educate me. *Read the entire cool interview at the [source.](https://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/off-topic/women-information-security-valerie-thomas/)* Source: [tripwire](http://https://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/off-topic/women-information-security-valerie-thomas/) # Related Resources [![](https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screen%20Shot%202020-08-14%20at%203.48.55%20PM.png?width=350&name=Screen%20Shot%202020-08-14%20at%203.48.55%20PM.png) by Mitnick Security | 08.16.2019 | 1 min #### Advice from Kevin Mitnick Featured in the Wall Street Journal Op-Ed Kevin Mitnick was interviewed by Mr. Maniloff who is an attorney at White and Williams LLP in Philadelphia and an adjunct professor at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law. 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Grimes, Chief Hacking Officer, Data-driven Defense Evangelist, Security Awareness Training, Knowbe4, Simulated Phishing Platform, 2Fa Solution, Kevin Mitnick ](https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/in-the-news/12-ways-to-defeat-two-factor-authentication) [![](https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Images/Events/In%20The%20News/simon-abrams-k_T9Zj3SE8k-unsplash.jpg?width=350&name=simon-abrams-k_T9Zj3SE8k-unsplash.jpg) by Mitnick Security | 11.26.2018 | 1 min #### We Need to Talk About NIST’s Dropped Password Management Recommendations Passwords and their protection are among the most fundamental, essential aspects of enterprise data security. They also make up the bane of most users’ relationships with their enterprise devices, res... Continue Reading Speaking Engagements, 2Fa, Biometric Security, Two-factor Authentication, Fraud Prevention, Password, Password Management, Kevin Mitnick Security Awareness Training, Multifactor Authentication (Mfa, Password Reuse, Kevin Mitnick ](https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/in-the-news/we-need-to-talk-about-nists-dropped-password-management-recommendations)