A Legal Break-In Into the Big House

Jack Rhysider is the host and creator of the podcast Darknet Diaries. He's worked in a Security Operations Center for a Fortune 500 Company and has become a veteran when it comes to security. In his podcast, he tends to talk with various members of the cybersecurity community to educate and entertain audiences who are tech-savvy as well as those who aren't.

In episode 67, The Big House, Rhysider opens by making the listener imagine a prison or correction facility. He describes the tall gates, the razor wire, the tiny windows, and the guard towers. He then asks the listener if they've ever wondered how a prisoner could possibly escape.

Now that he's set the tone, he introduces himself and the title of the podcast. Eerie music plays, further anchoring the listener into the mood he's set beforehand. This theme is kept throughout the podcast. Actually, rather than pause and introduce the episode's guests, he immediately jumps into talking with him. After a brief back and forth, Rhysider's voice cuts in to abruptly name the guest, John Strand.

This pattern continues as Strand continues to talk about his past as Rhysider adds further commentary between each section to acquaint the listener with who Strand is, how he was first introduced to computers, and how he got into cybersecurity.

John Strand worked as a cybersecurity defense contractor for many years. However, despite having achieved the status of a SANS instructor, he quit his job and decided to start his own penetration company, Black Hills Information Security.

Normally, when thinking about a break-in, the word legal doesn't come to mind when trying to describe it. However, this is exactly the case when it comes to penetration testers. Customers hire their services so that they can test whether a hacker could get into their building or computer network.

After conveying all of Strand's qualifications to the listener, Rhysider transitions into Strand's penetration test stories. The music restarts and sets the mood as Strand tells his stories. Aside from that, the only main difference in the soundscape is when Rhysider talks directly to Strand in the interview or adds in a voice-over cut-in to grant the listener more context about the story.

Overall, the podcast was both entertaining and educational. It takes the time to explain terminology for listeners who might not be familiar with it. Also, despite Strand's mainly talking about his penetration testing stories, he was able to intertwine a story about how much his mother helped him throughout his journey.

Therefore, the podcast would surely draw the attention of an audience who is just starting to get into technology and cybersecurity. They would see the value of getting to hear the experiences of a professional in the field and might learn about things they didn't know about before.

Based on Rhysider's other podcasts, it's fairly common for teenagers to exploit their hacker abilities. It most cases, it's simply because they weren't aware of what kind of jobs would value their skillset. By educating this kind of audience with ethical alternatives, Rhysider is providing them with options. Additionally, since Rhysider is also targeting the non-techy community, if someone were to take the time to listen to the podcasts, they might learn tips and tricks to defend themselves from potential threats.