William Curtiss serves as a two-time CISO and currently holds the position of Co-Chair for the Evanta CISO Governing Body in Central North Carolina. With a career that began in secure systems engineering under contract for the NSA, William has since led cybersecurity programs at Fortune 500 companies, contributed to early firewall innovation, and played a pivotal role in building cybersecurity communities through conferences and peer networking. At Evanta, he fosters collaboration among security leaders, emphasizing peer learning, professional development, and rapid adaptation in an evolving threat landscape. With a unique mix of technical experience, executive leadership, and a passion for mentoring others, William brings a thoughtful and strategic perspective to the future of cybersecurity leadership.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- The power of cybersecurity peer groups and professional collaboration
- Why asking "yes, but why?" leads to stronger architecture decisions
- William's career path from programmer to executive leadership
- How introverts can thrive in cybersecurity through conference engagement
- The link between musical background and cybersecurity pattern recognition
- Practical ways AI is speeding up incident response
- Why domainless security is an underrated strategic move
- Advice for hiring diverse talent from nontraditional backgrounds
In this episode…
William Curtiss reflects on his evolution from engineering secure operating systems evaluated by the NSA to becoming an influential cybersecurity executive and peer group leader. As Co-Chair of Evanta’s CISO Governing Body, he explains how conferences foster collaboration in a field where everyone is facing the same threats—and why peer support is critical in a high-pressure environment. William shares his philosophy on mentoring both introverted professionals and early-career talent, emphasizing conference participation, public speaking, and expanding into new roles.
His technical journey includes building one of the earliest commercial firewalls, helping grow a Fortune 500 infosec program, and identifying surprising patterns in team success—like the value of musical backgrounds and gaming culture in developing pattern-recognition skills. He urges new professionals to explore the broad career paths within cybersecurity and to align their roles with their personal strengths and interests.
In the final stretch of the conversation, William dives into AI’s role in real-time threat response, where traditional detection windows have shrunk from months to minutes. He offers sharp insight into domainless security, decentralized architecture, and the critical thinking mindset needed to reshape legacy assumptions. His mantra—"yes, but why?"—is a challenge to every security leader to rethink inherited models and drive smarter, faster infrastructure decisions.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Matthew Connor on LinkedIn
CyberLynx
William Curtiss on LinkedIn
Evanta Website
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