Member Spotlight: Ryan Castle, COO, TraceSecurity

Ryan Castle is Chief Operations Officer for TraceSecurity. With a background in software development and law enforcement, his focus is on the technical side of the business: He currently oversees customer success, development, IT, support, and product management.

Prior to his current role, Ryan was the Director of Product Management and Vice President of Technology at TraceSecurity, and previously to that, he worked at Palantir Technologies and as a Special Agent in the FBI. He has a master’s and bachelor’s in Computer Engineering from Vanderbilt University. Here, Ryan catches up with Cyber Security Hub for a quick interview on work, interests and more.

1.) What’s the coolest thing you are working on right now?

PhinPoint — our phishing filter.  It’s fascinating to see the different methods, both technical and social engineering, that phishers use and try to come up with creative ways to identify them.

2.) What is the greatest technology invented in the last 10 years, and why?

FaceTime – our extended family can stay in touch with our children and “be there” for special moments without travelling.

3.) What is the most interesting thing you’ve read or seen this week?

“The Hard Thing About Hard Things” by Ben Horowitz.  It was recommended to me and has a lot of good anecdotes you don’t typically read about in a “traditional” business book.

4.) What’s the most ‘useless’ fact you know?

Giraffes have the highest blood pressure of any animal.  It takes a lot of force to get blood up that long neck!

5.) What is your favorite way to spend free time?

Getting outside with my family and watching my kids explore nature.   It’s impossible to not get excited when you watch the curiosity of kids.