Halfway through my engineering education, it became apparent how much networking and computer security needed real, field-educated professionals. Sound strategies apply internally as well, so we can disregard the outside for now. It seemed the industry grew too fast without any real sort of oversight on this subject, or perhaps that is just my perception of how it was then, hindsight being 20/20 and all that. I'm of the mind that cybersecurity has had massive growth without proper guidance or nurturing, and thinking further outside the box will mean stepping further outside our comfort zones. This technology is where I believe we could use some more mutual understanding, investigation, and conclusive application in areas of internal access for long-term security and breakthrough. The profession has become better, more focused, and more well-known than around 2008. In 2008, everyday professionals did not seem to know what network security was. They were also ignorant that the lackadaisical attitude they had towards their digital information could end their company. At the time, I interned at an establishment where I was within arms reach from full access to people's credit card data and personal information, with no oversight to who had access before, during, or after the workday was over. There were no firewall constraints that I could not get around if I chose to click a few buttons now to allow me access later. The key here is our perception of the people for whom we work for or with. Also, the ultimate goals/motives each person has. Should we overthink it? Do they look smart? Like a criminal? Should it always be a senior-level access policy be the higher you go, the more information you are given access to at a company? Would that sort of withholding not help feed the curiosity of a talented, overlooked hacker? There needs to be a better way to recognize and nurture talent in the workplace today in the information security industry. During this time, I probably did not look like I knew how to or cared to get my hands on this information because there is the semi-irrelevant fact that I was an alcoholic at the time and did not have much drive to attempt hours of hacking. However, there is the fact that I thought about it, had the knowledge, and very well could have. Regarding my past, I am now four years sober, and I have channeled that behavior into something entirely positive, thanks to someone who saw it as a related experience for resolving their particular problem. I have always thought about and think of the network and computer security field as wide open to people of all sorts of taboo, diverse, misjudged, or redeemed backgrounds. It's probably the only profession that supports the application of criminal mindsets towards a positive, safe outcome. Cybersecurity is the only sort of niche, criminal-deterring technology outside of home security that can stake a claim in basing its finished products off not only stakeholders and engineers but criminals alike. For example, last week, one man admitted to stealing $600 million from a company right after hacking it. The company offered him a job and a reward. Now, this might have been his end game from the start, but what a better world for cybersecurity and human beings if we stopped punishing/ignoring talent but helped/listened to them instead. I see this not only help the industry grow but also our tolerance of difference and diversity. Underutilization of talent is an underutilization of talent; it's a waste.