Meet the CyberSecurity Analyst Who Also Loves Trying Out Food Recipes

If you’re seeing this interview draft, it means you’ve recently published on HackerNoon a story that the community found interesting and/or valuable. For this reason, we would like to help the community get to know you better as well as find out some writing tips from you.

While this template is automatic, our interest in the answers below is genuine and our human editors (and some cyborg wannabes) will review it before publishing.

So let’s start! Tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests.

Funso Richard is an Information Security Officer at a leading healthcare organization and a GRC Thought Leader. I write about business risk using cybersecurity as the sauce. I love threat-adaptive intelligence as it is a recipe for making good predictive analytics and risk forecasting. I’m a strong believer in the intersection between business prosperity and national security. I enjoy cyberpsychology and love to research how humans interact with data and technology.

Interesting! What was your latest Hackernoon Top story about?

I own a smart car. After having a great conversation with a seasoned auto tech writer, I was inspired to dig into connected vehicles and emerging cyber threats. The research was thrilling, the writing rewarding. In the story, I dismissed the myth that what happened in Fast and Furious 8 when cars were remotely hacked and weaponized was just a Hollywood fantasy. The truth is that any connected vehicle can be hacked and hijacked if the right security is not in place. So, if you own a smart vehicle, you sure want to follow the tips in my story and protect yourself and vehicle!

Do you usually write on similar topics? If not, what do you usually write about?

Yes, I write on a range of topics that cover business risk, cybersecurity, governance, enterprise, and strategy. Occasionally, I write on social influence & digital culture and how they affect business operations.

Great! What is your usual writing routine like (if you have one?)

I publish a monthly LinkedIn newsletter, Business Risk Pulse. I also sprinkle a post at least once a month. So, I would say, given my busy schedule and the amount of research that goes into my content, I stick to a monthly routine - for now.

Being a writer in tech can be a challenge. It’s not often our main role, but an addition to another one. What is the biggest challenge you have when it comes to writing?

Time is the biggest challenge. I have to create time to write. To me, writing is a sacred responsibility. It requires research, diligence, and investment. Technical writing is difficult. It is even more challenging when you write strategically. At my level, writing requires a great deal of commitment to communicate the right story to decision makers.

What is the next thing you hope to achieve in your career?

I hope to continue the conversation on best practices and strategies to support business leaders and decision makers to better protect their organizations. As a practitioner of what I write, I share proven strategies backed by research and empirical data. I also look forward to providing consulting and advisory to businesses who need help translating strategies into actionable outcomes.

Wow, that’s admirable. Now, something more casual: What is your guilty pleasure of choice?

Watching movies and over-analyzing them rather than just enjoying them.

Do you have a non-tech-related hobby? If yes, what is it?

Hitting the gym and getting into my dream shape! I also love trying new recipes, poetry, nature photography and personal branding.

What can the Hacker Noon community expect to read from you next?

Well, that is a great question! I am looking at exploring the broken chain in blockchain. Blockchain has been touted to be very secure. I will be exploring recent hacks and breaches of blockchain.

What’s your opinion on HackerNoon as a platform for writers?

Initially, I was reluctant to share my content on HackerNoon. But that changed after seeing that HN is the future of content creation, promotion, and distribution. HackerNoon doesn’t get bogged down by pretentious superiority feigned by other platforms with some exaggerated standards. HackerNoon understands the audience and how to reach them. It is a platform for seasoned and emerging writers to get the right visibility they need. I love the tips and audio versions of articles.

Thanks for taking time to join our “Meet the writer” series. It was a pleasure. Do you have any closing words?

Writers should write about their passion. But they should also be willing to adapt. They should be willing to write what is relevant to their target audience. I know this is difficult sometimes. To evolve a time-tested writing style could be challenging. However, there is no point in having a remarkable story that no one reads.