SIMON CARABETTA
THE WEIGHT OF AUTHORITY by Simon Carabetta, Business Operations Lead at ES2
Back in 2020 I was kindly invited by a friend of mine
because I did not want my words to carry the weight
from the security industry to share some time with
of authority.
him during his regular weekly guest spot on AM radio at the prime time of 9pm on a Wednesday
Every event I present at, every interview I participate
night. I was pretty excited at the chance to talk about
in and every chat I have with friends, family and
the upcoming Cyber Week events I was organising
colleagues, I preface my statements by saying I am
through the job I held at the time.
not an expert, but an observer with a passion for what I do and the industry I work in.
However, it did not take long for me to be caught entirely off guard when the DJ introduced me as a
Looking back at that radio interview, I think I saved
cybersecurity expert.
it from becoming messier than it could have been, because a lot of the expected technical questions did
Expert? Surely he had gathered some open-source
not come. Instead, I was asked about the future of
intelligence and vetted me online? A quick look at my
careers in security, what some of my top tips were,
LinkedIn profile would have shown him otherwise. Or
and I got the chance to plug my events, which made
maybe he just took my then job title as justification
for a lot of fun in the end. Some light-hearted jokes
for the expert moniker. Either way, I was completely
were thrown around. The interview ended with a firm
thrown. The only thoughts sprinting through my mind
handshake and a “We’ll need to get you back on the
in the nanoseconds I had to reply were on how I could
show again, mate” from the DJ. He was a nice fellow.
come up with a polite way to inform him, and the
I had a good time with my mate on the show, and it
audience, that I was certainly no expert.
was something I will remember fondly as being the time I saved myself from some real trouble.
Why would I make this correction such a priority?
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Because words matter. When a trusted radio
These days, I still feel very uncomfortable being
personality with a decent audience and following
referred to as a cybersecurity expert, purely because
introduces a guest as an expert, the audience will
I am not. There are very many real experts in this
take everything that guest says as advice and pass
industry and I am sure they will not mind being called
that information on to others. It was not about saving
out: the likes of local West Australian experts such
face, and it certainly was not down to ego. It was
as Rachel Mahncke, Vanessa van Beek, and my
W O M E N I N S E C U R I T Y M A G A Z I N E
M A R C H • A P R I L 2023
