The Job Security Cybersecurity Podcast
The Job Security Cybersecurity Podcast, brought to you by Expel Security, explores the unique perspectives and stories of the people who make the cybersecurity industry what it is—whether they realize it or not. Hosts Dave Johnson and Tyler Zito recognize that we're living in an enlightenment period of cybersecurity, where the industry has stabilized with established education systems, compliance frameworks, and documented methodologies. But it took a lot to get here.
This podcast looks inward at our community and culture, sharing the stories of how we built this industry through DIY traditions, mythologies, and countless people figuring it out as they went. We explore not just the technical aspects of security, but the human elements—from current students and interns to seasoned professionals, and even those outside cybersecurity who offer valuable perspectives on risk, strategy, and innovation.
Expect conversations about where we've been, where we are now, and where we're headed next. We'll talk to adjunct professors, threat hunters, entertainers at hacker conventions, and professionals from adjacent industries who can teach us something new. This isn't another podcast about threats and threat actors—it's about the people doing the work and the lessons we can learn by looking in slightly different directions.
Join us for a mix of education, entertainment, and optimism as we celebrate how far cybersecurity has come while inspiring curiosity and innovation for the future. Whether you're taking a lunch break or winding down after incident response, we're here to help you relax with good stories and interesting discoveries.
The Job Security Cybersecurity Podcast
Episode 4: Making cybersecurity events findable
Host Dave Johnson sits down with Walter Martín Villalba, founder of InfoSecMap, to explore how he's solving one of the cybersecurity community's most persistent challenges: finding and tracking the thousands of InfoSec events happening worldwide. This conversation covers the origin story of InfoSecMap, the mechanics of manually curating event data at scale, and the unique welcoming nature of the InfoSec community that keeps people coming back.
Key topics & timestamps
The problem InfoSecMap solves (3:37 - 5:16)
- Missing events after expensive travel, information scattered everywhere
- Turned frustration into action during early pandemic 2020
Building InfoSecMap from scratch (5:54 - 9:45)
- Started as side project, realized one person couldn't maintain it alone
- Today: 6-7 people handling operations, outreach, and development
Recent explosive growth (10:40 - 12:55)
- Crossed 10,000 unique monthly visits two months ago
- Now at 23,000 monthly visits (120-130% growth)
- 100% organic traffic—no paid promotion
Strategic partnerships and credibility (12:55 - 15:47)
- Official partnership with OWASP Foundation provides credibility
- Partnerships with BSides Security globally
Partnership opportunities (15:51 - 19:01)
- Flexible models: cross-promotion, highlighting CFPs, sponsor calls
- Powerful filtering by dates, regions, and topics
First conference and community passion (19:17 - 21:49)
- First major conference: OWASP Global AppSec USA 2013
- InfoSec community uniquely welcoming with knowledge sharing culture
- Platform lists CTFs valuable for career development
Manual curation at scale (23:28 - 25:29)
- Everything manually curated to ensure accuracy
- Prevents spam and vendor pitches
- Expecting 5,000+ listings by end of year
The actual numbers (25:54 - 27:44)
- Conservative estimate: 7,000-10,000+ InfoSec events annually worldwide
- InfoSecMap has close to 5,000 events for 2024 alone
Automation and AI exploration (27:44 - 30:50)
- Exploring AI for curation automation with mixed results
- Higher priority: making platform self-sustainable long-term
Future vision and new features (33:14 - 37:00)
Key quotes
"I simply got tired of wasting a lot of time searching online... spending a lot of time and finding only a handful of events and still missing a lot." - Walter Martín Villalba
"The InfoSec community is very special in regards to certain aspects. It's very welcoming. There's a ton of knowledge sharing. There are a lot of people willing to give you a hand, not expecting anything in return." - Walter Martín Villalba
"It doesn't really matter how big or small the event is. If it's a legit InfoSec event, we'll list it, even if it is five friends getting together every other Friday to try to do some Hack The Box machines." - Walter Martín Villalba
Helpful links
Production Credits
- Co-hosts: Dave Johnson
- Producer: Ben Baker
- Sponsor: Expel MDR
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The Job Security Podcast explores the unique perspectives and stories of the people who make the cybersecurity industry what it is, whether they realize it or not.