BarCode

The Microsoft offices in downtown Houston initialized something in 2010 that its founders never intended to scale. Michael Farnum and his team triggered a regional conference with 120 attendees, built for the Texas cyber community. No grand ambitions. No national aspirations. Just a gathering for people who knew each other, wanted to learn together, and could afford to show up without corporate sponsorship covering a $2,700 entry f...

Twenty-one years old, sitting at an e-machines computer in Oregon. AOL chatrooms visable through the scanlines of a 17" beige CRT monitor. The social engineering protocol initializes without a name, without formal training. Just need driving innovation. Packages arrive at the house. Things he couldn't afford now flowing through manipulation vectors his young mind discovered by instinct.The judicial system terminates this o...

In the back office of his father’s telecommunications business, something in five-year-old Ryan Williams initialized. Programming in BASIC on a Commodore 64, he typed endless lines of code from a magazine, waiting three hours for a Mandelbrot set to render pixel by pixel across the screen. He was disappointed with the result, but the process had already taken hold. Years later, Williams was setting up a Formula One driver’s party w...

One batch file flatlined an entire school district’s network. That was 1994, in a town so small you could drive fifteen minutes and see nothing but the curvature of the earth. By sixteen he was building one of Wyoming’s first ISPs, and by 1996 he had already founded a Red Team. Then came twenty three years as a DEF CON goon, followed by an offensive security practice that scaled to 132 pen testers and nearly forty million dollars a...

A kid builds a website for Game Boy Advance tips. Then another one. Then a racing game with a contact form he didn't think twice about. Until, someone hit it with a SQL injection. That moment cracked open a door he never planned to walk through. Years later, he's still walking. Past classical computing, past the ones and zeros we all know and into a space where a bit doesn't have to choose. One where particles hold thei...

An Uber ride. A stranger in the backseat. A conversation that changes everything. What if the person who redirects your entire life is someone you've walked past a thousand times and never noticed? This is the story of a kid from West Philly who didn't know what a server was, what the cloud meant, or why Windows OS mattered and then turned that into a cybersecurity career built on hustle, community, and an obsession with doing the ...

The future of cybersecurity is not coming. It is already here. AI is writing code faster than humans. Deepfakes can impersonate your boss. Quantum computers threaten the encryption that protects everything we trust. And most organizations are still playing catch up.

In this episode of BarCode, Chris sits down with Jim West, a 30 plus year cybersecurity veteran who has seen every wave of the industry. From building machines in the ea...

In this conversation, Chris Glanden interviews Matt Brown, a cybersecurity professional with extensive experience in both offensive and defensive security. Matt shares his journey into the cybersecurity field, discussing the importance of continuous learning, the transition from blue team to red team, and the critical skills needed for pen testing. They also explore the role of certifications, the evolution of online learning, and ...

In this episode, Corey LeBleu, a veteran penetration tester, shares a raw and intense story from his early days in offensive security. Corey walks through a social engineering engagement that took a sharp turn, from being closely watched by a security guard to receiving the call that changed everything. What followed was a confrontation with authority, handcuffs, and a moment that forced him to confront the legal and emotional cons...

In the electric chaos of DEF CON—where dial tones, solder smoke, and hacker legends collide—one figure stands out: John Aff, aka PANDA.

A veteran in the hacker community, he moves effortlessly between challenge design, telephony wizardry, mesh networking experiments, and the culture that surrounds it all.

Behind the reputation is a journey that started with game hacking, shifted into enterprise security, and evolved into a life built...

Enter the mind of Amar Sonik - a DevOps engineer, community builder, and lifelong technologist whose journey spans from the help desk to the heart of cybersecurity. Known for shaping BSides Singapore and now lending his voice to The Borg Radio Hour, Sonic reveals how curiosity fueled his evolution, how mentorship from Len Noe helped him command the stage, and why community, creativity, and calm remain the true superpowers in tech. ...

Summary:
Live from the BarCode YachtCast 2025, host Chris Glanden sits down with Krista Arndt, Associate CISO at St. Luke’s University Health Network and author of “Permission to Be Real.” In this raw and authentic conversation recorded aboard the SS McMenamin, Krista shares her journey from aspiring nurse to cybersecurity leader, the parallels between drag racing and infosec, and the art of blending authenticity with corporate ...

This week, Barcode hits the floor at HOU.SEC.CON2025, one of the most anticipated cybersecurity gatherings in Texas, to capture real conversations with the people driving the industry forward. The energy was high, the community was buzzing, and the insights were overflowingas host Chris Glandon connected with innovators, educators, founders, and practitioners who are redefining what it means to build and protect intoday’s digital l...

“Flow State” isn’t just a nod to the psychological zone of peak focus — it reflects Yuriy Sibere’s entire approach to life and work. From tinkering with a ZX Spectrum in Ukraine to managing cross-functional security products at ThreatLocker, Yuriy embodies adaptability, alignment, and precision amid complexity.
He thrives where vision meets implementation — translating abstract strategy into tangible, human-centric security prod...

"Revelation" is about exposing what’s hidden: Vulnerabilities, Truths, and the role of hackers in revealing them.In this conversation, Casey John Ellis, founder of Bugcrowd, shares his journey from a curious child fascinated by technology to a pioneer in crowdsourced security. He discusses the evolution of bug bounty programs, the importance of community in cybersecurity, and the challenges of scaling a startup. Casey als...

Ted Harrington explains the power of the hacker mindset and its impact far beyond cybersecurity. He unpacks how curiosity, creativity, and the drive to challenge assumptions can unlock new ways of thinking and problem-solving across all areas of life. Ted offers practical exercises to develop this mindset, shares strategies to overcome imposter syndrome, and highlights the importance of leaning into positive feedback. He also previ...

In this conversation, Chris Glandon interviews Josh Mason, a Solutions Architect at CINAC and founder of Newb Village. They discuss Josh's journey from being a U.S. Air Force pilot to entering the cybersecurity field, his motivation behind creating Newb Village to support newcomers in the industry, and his new book 'Speak Security with a Business Accent'. They also explore the role of SYNAC in cybersecurity and share in...

In this engaging conversation, Chris Glanden interviews Kevin Johnson, a seasoned expert in IT and cybersecurity. Kevin shares his extensive journey from system administration to becoming a leader in penetration testing and ethical hacking. He emphasizes the importance of hands-on learning, the evolution of penetration testing standards, and the role of open source in the industry. The discussion also touches on the significance of...

In this engaging conversation, Chris Glanden speaks with Pat Gorman AKA InfoSec Pat, a cybersecurity professional with over 12 years of experience. Pat shares his unique journey into the cybersecurity field, discussing his early life, career transitions, and the importance of certifications. He emphasizes the need for practical skills and the value of community engagement in the cybersecurity space. The discussion also touches on t...