Podcast Summary: CyberWire Daily

Episode: Helen Patton: A platform to talk about security. [CISO] [Career Notes]
Date: September 14, 2025
Host: N2K Networks
Guest: Helen Patton, Advisory CISO at Cisco

Episode Overview

This episode features Helen Patton, Advisory CISO at Cisco, as she narrates her unconventional journey into cybersecurity, reflects on the key lessons and leadership philosophies drawn from her career, and highlights the unique challenges of securing organizations across vastly different industries. With wit and candor, Patton explores how she found her calling, the surprises she encountered, and the values she hopes to leave as her legacy.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Early Life and Accidental Entry into IT & Security

• Background:
  • Helen Patton grew up in rural Australia during the 1970s and 80s — a time and place where computers were virtually nonexistent.
  • As a student, her interests ranged from landscape architecture to economics, with no inkling of a technology career.
• First Steps:
  • After high school, Patton took a gap year, worked at a bank, and began a part-time business degree in Sydney.
  • Meeting her future husband, an American Navy serviceman, she moved to Ohio, USA, and started temp work before landing a job at the Ohio Restaurant Association.
• Serendipitous Opportunity:
  • In the early 90s, she was tasked with helping convert the office’s IBM mainframe to a client-server SQL database:

    "I was the only person in the office under the age of about 40. And so they figured I must be somewhat comfortable with computers. Like, I don't know why they thought that, but they did." (03:44, Helen Patton)

  • Hired by the consulting company after the successful migration, she learned IT hands-on, implementing small networks for non-profits.

2. Growth in Security and Challenges in the Early Years

• From IT to Security:
  • Moved to a software development company, managing their infrastructure and help desk just as viruses such as "I Love You" and Slammer began emerging.
  • Forced to create security and disaster recovery programs after repeated disruptions, transitioning from IT administration into security leadership.
• Key Insight:

  "It ticked me off because I would walk in with my day planned out. Because I'm a planner. I would walk in with my day planned out and someone clicked on something or did something. My CIO...said, 'Damn, we need a security program or a disaster recovery program. And Helen, you're it.'" (06:57, Helen Patton)

3. Enterprise Experience: From Banking to Higher Ed

• Banking Sector:

  • Joined Bank One as a disaster recovery planner, only for the bank to merge with JP Morgan days later. She unexpectedly found herself at a global scale:
    • "To my surprise, and by accident, I'm now working for one of the biggest Wall street banks." (07:47, Helen Patton)
  • Held four different roles over a decade, focusing on technology risk rather than directly on operations.

• Transition to Higher Education:

  • Became CISO at The Ohio State University, expecting a less complex environment than banking:

    "I quite naively thought, oh, I'm going from this really rigorous security organization to an organization where the primary business purpose is teaching kids in classrooms. Like, how technically difficult could that be? ...Oh God, I was so wrong." (08:37, Helen Patton)

  • Describes higher education security as “ten times more difficult” than banking due to diversity of technology (from airports and hospitals to nuclear reactors) and a mission centered on openness.
  • Unique workplace culture:
    • Command-and-control (“make it so”) worked in banking, but education required persuasion and psychological insight.
    • "I'd go to someone and say, you really should not have local admin rights. And they're like, yeah, make me. I'm like, oh." (08:57, Helen Patton)

4. Philosophy on Leadership, Team Building, and Career Moves

• Knowing When to Move On:
  • Left Ohio State when she felt she’d built a sustainable program and her skill set had met its match with the university's next stage.
  • Enjoys her current role at Cisco and Duo Security, appreciating collaboration across industries and geographies and learning from diverse professionals.
• On Leadership Style and Legacy:

  "I look to get as much input from as many stakeholders as possible before I make a decision ... Once a decision is made, I tend to be quite forceful about making that happen. I am action oriented, but I'm data driven in my action." (09:07, Helen Patton)

  • Misses having her own direct team as an Advisory CISO, with a noticeable fondness for coaching and developing people.
• Australian Directness:
  • "I think Australians are more direct than Americans... When I became a leader, that served me well. When I wasn't a leader, I was seen as too brash." (09:37, Helen Patton)

5. Giving Back and Legacy in the Security Community

• Motivation to Write and Contribute:

  "I would like people to think that they feel like I gave back to the community...that I did things that were just a little bit bigger than my own self interest." (10:17, Helen Patton)

  • She references her book as part of her efforts to contribute broadly.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Accidental Career Beginnings:

  "A combination of dumb luck and a little bit of hard work and serendipity." (02:36, Helen Patton)

• Shifting Cultures:

  "In banking, the idea is not to share data with anybody unless they absolutely have to know it. In higher ed, it's to share data with as many people as you possibly can." (08:57, Helen Patton)

• Challenges in Higher Ed Security:

  "We had a hotel, we had an airport, we had a nuclear reactor, we had multiple entertainment centers for football and concerts. Eight hospitals, all kinds of stuff, right? And people go, oh, you're higher ed. I'm like, yeah, no, really, you think grades and scheduling. I was like, oh God, I was so wrong." (08:47, Helen Patton)

• On Legacy:

  "That I did things that were just a little bit bigger than my own self interest. That's what I'd like to think." (10:17, Helen Patton)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:43] – Helen Patton introduces herself and recounts her childhood in Australia.
• [03:44] – Early accidental entry into IT at the Ohio Restaurant Association.
• [06:57] – First significant exposure to cybersecurity and disaster recovery roles.
• [07:47] – Joining Bank One and the unplanned transition to JP Morgan.
• [08:37] – Taking the CISO role at Ohio State University and the unexpected challenges.
• [09:07] – Reflections on leadership style, collaboration, and directness.
• [10:17] – Expressing her legacy and motivation for giving back.

Conclusion

Helen Patton’s journey from rural Australia to global security leadership is as instructive as it is candid and relatable. Her story underlines the importance of adaptability, learning through unexpected twists, and the value of cross-industry experience. Above all, Patton emphasizes giving back to the community and cultivating a professional legacy beyond self-interest—a message she actively embodies through writing, mentoring, and industry engagement.