Pay It Forward

“There’s no respect for others without humility in one’s self.” ~ Amiel

When I set out on this ‘caper’ over five years ago I never imagined how things would turn out. A lot of positive things have occurred. Things like making the cover of both Newsweek, and Homeland Security Today Magazine, TV coverage on both MSNBC and NBC, my laptop being displayed in the International Spy Museum in Washington DC and much more.

And this week something else happened. I was ‘named’ in TIME Magazine’s list of the 30 Most Influential people on the Internet. Think about that for a minute. At the time of writing there are 3,079,544,187 (give or take) people using the internet in the world.

This list has just 30 people on it. I was and am still, totally stunned. TIME lists were first published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, politicians, and journalists, the list is now an annual event. Although appearing on the list is often seen as an honor, TIME makes it clear that entrants are recognized for changing the world, regardless of the consequences of their actions. The final list of influential individuals are exclusively chosen by TIME editors with nominations coming from the TIME alumni and the magazine’s international writing staff.

To say I’m honored to be included on this list would be a giant understatement, and to those who say ‘Jester’s just a famewhore’ – I’d like to point out a simple fact: You really haven’t thought it through. I could have come into your car dealership today to test drive a new set of wheels, or bought a coffee from you in a coffee shop, and you would never know. And I prefer it that way for obvious reasons. I’m lucky enough to be able to go about my business unmolested every single day. *I* am not famous. Thankfully.

Now, on to what I actually set out to say in this post.

While I am extremely proud to be included on this list, there are countless others in the cyber security and intelligence industry, working in SOCs, NOCs, bunkers and batcaves in private and government run facilities all around the country who, every day and night are striving tirelessly to protect our nations infrastructures, online assets, and intellectual property, and it’s to them I dedicate this post.

I’d like to close off with MY LIST of 10 people that have influenced or inspired me and the decisions I have made on this path. This list is in no particular order:

All my amazing supporters, and followers on Twitter.
Louis Zamperini.
Bibi Netanyahu.
‘David Lightman’ – (100 points if you know who I’m talking about WITHOUT Googling it).
H.D. Moore
Kevin Mitnick in the 90’s. (Believe it or not).
Phil Zimmerman
Pvt Martin A. Treptow.
Ronald Reagan
Mom
And the guy who wrote me THIS LETTER earlier this week.