The Gate 15 Interview: Amanda Berlin and Megan Roddie talk cybersecurity, mental health hackers, DEFCON, musicals, fruits, and more!

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Megan Roddie
Amanda Berlin


In this episode of The Gate 15 Interview, Andy Jabbour speaks with Amanda Berlin and Megan Roddie, cybersecurity leaders & mental health hackers, and they’ve got their hands in a lot more too! 

Amanda is the Lead Incident Detection Engineer at Blumira and has worked in I.T. for almost her entire adult life. Before working at Blumira, Amanda’s responsibilities have included infrastructure security, network hardware and software repair, email management, network/server troubleshooting and installation, purple teaming with a focus on phishing employees and organizational infrastructure as well as teaching employees about security and preventing exploits. She currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer for Mental Health Hackers and is the co-host of the Brakeing Down SecurityPodcast (BrakeSec Podcast, @brakesec)! 

Megan is a Senior Security Engineer at IBM, Co-Author of SANS FOR509 and has worked in cybersecurity since graduating from Sam Houston State University (and while she was still a student!). Previous roles have been with the Texas Department of Public Safety, Recon InfoSec, and with IBM’s X-Force. She currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer for Mental Health Hackers. Megan is also a Muay Thai fighter and coach.

In the discussion we address:

  • Amanda & Megan’s backgrounds and origin stories
  • Mental Health Hackers
  • Awesome tips for breaking into security! 
  • DEFCON and how to score a free breakfast at DEFCON!!
  • The Brakeing Down Security podcast 
  • Muay Thai, Musicals, Apples & Bananas!
  • Fruits, music and so much more!

A few references mentioned in or relevant to our discussion include:

MHH tweet regarding Gate 15 sponsorship for MHH at DEFCON

Please enjoy this episode of The Gate 15 Interview podcast on AnchorSpotifyAppleGoogle, as well as other locations accessible via the Anchor link or almost anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts. 

The Gate 15 Interview is a monthly interview between Gate 15’s founder and Managing Director, Andy Jabbour and guests from throughout the homeland security risk management community addressing a wide range of all-hazards topics and issues. Read more about Gate 15’s full podcast menu at our Podcast page. You can subscribe and enjoy all the Gate 15 Podcasts on AnchorAppleSpotifyGoogle, as well as other locations accessible from the Anchor link. Week-to-week, you can hear and learn more about our all-hazards threats, risks, mitigation and other issues impacting homeland security risk management from our team as well as our regular and special guests. The full podcast menu includes:

  • The Risk Roundtable, is a recurring monthly discussion among our team and occasional guests as we explore the all-hazards threats and risks impacting the United States and internationally.
  • The Cybersecurity Evangelist, with Jennifer Lyn Walker, is a cybersecurity-focused discussion with Jen and invited guests.
  • Nerd Out! Security Panel Discussion, moderated by Dave Pounder, focuses on physical security topics including terrorism, extremism, hostile events, and other pertinent topics.
  • The Gate 15 Interview, is a monthly interview between Gate 15’s founder and Managing Director, Andy Jabbour and guests from throughout the homeland security risk management community addressing a wide range of all-hazards topics and issues.

We hope you’ll subscribe, listen and share your ideas and other feedback! Reach out to us on TwitterLinkedIn or via email at: podcast@gate15.global.