Today, we’re sitting down with Aaron Fillmore, president and co-founder of Cyber Info, a nonprofit dedicated to making cybersecurity education accessible to all.
We’ll talk about what Cyber Info is, where the platform is so far, and how Aaron plans to use it to empower the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.
A few words about Aaron Fillmore
Aaron Fillmore is the president and co-founder of Cyber Info, a nonprofit he started in January 2023 with his close friend and EVP, Juan Requena. Their mission is to create a better (and free) Codecademy, but for cybersecurity education.
- Learn about Cyber Info here.
- And join their community on Discord
Aaron’s passion for technology was ignited at a young age, watching his father, an engineer. “Working on all kinds of amazing robotics, programmable arms, and laser tables,” Aaron says.
Lucky enough to have grown up with a computer since he was four, it didn’t take Aaron long to start hacking: his first exploit involved modifying video game save files and subverting parental controls on the family computer.
Professionally, Aaron has experience working for managed service providers as a network engineer, building SOC teams from the ground up, and currently works at EPRI, a U.S. nonprofit that researches the production, transmission, and use of electricity in the energy sector, where he leads cybersecurity.
So Aaron has a wealth of experience in cybersecurity, and as someone who was self-taught and broke into the industry, he wants to make it easier for others to learn the necessary skills to make it in this field where great educational resources are still a dime a dozen. Cyber Info is his project to do just that. But what exactly is Cyber Info and how does it work? We asked Aaron below.
Let’s start with Cyber Info’s mission: how exactly will it help people enter cybersecurity?
Aaron Fillmore: Cyber Info’s mission is to empower everyone with easy access to cybersecurity education. There is a lot of information out there on the internet and it can be overwhelming, especially for people who don’t know what to look for. To help combat this problem, we’re focusing on curating content for newcomers and seasoned industry professionals alike. One way we’re doing this is by providing a community environment for individuals, giving them access to industry professionals, such as myself, to answer their questions and providing guidance on getting started on their journey to break into the cybersecurity industry.
So it’s a platform for guided education and a community of experienced mentors all in one. What else is unique about Cyber Info?
Aaron Fillmore: Fortunately, we don’t have many direct competitors in this field, but even then, we don’t view them as competitors. We’re all here to learn and do fun stuff. However, we don’t really see any resources out there that compare to our current flagship project, Cyber Courses. While still in early development, the platform will provide curated content aimed at both newer and experienced users and show them a general path forward. As we build onto the platform, we envision a place where people can track their journey and plan for the future, with all the relevant information they might need at their fingertips.
What stage is the platform currently at?
Aaron Fillmore: Since we’re still young and our primary projects are still in the works, I’d have to say just surviving the first year and still moving forward has been great to see. It’s easy for things like this to fizzle out, but I feel like we’ve already had a super positive impact with our community.
Both Juan and I pay for everything out of our own pockets, but we put on TryHackMe and Hack The Box voucher giveaways to give people the opportunity to get some hands on experience. This has been incredibly rewarding, as we’ve had multiple people come back and tell us how much fun they’re having.
It’s clear that Aaron and Juan are both really passionate about making a difference, even funding things personally in these early stages.
What are your big picture goals in terms of growth and impact?
Aaron Fillmore: I really see Cyber Courses being the project with the biggest impact, which will drive growth. With the right social media and advertisement strategy, I’m hoping we can get the platform in front of as many people as possible and help those who are looking to break into the industry. For me personally, I’m wrapping up a master’s degree in cybersecurity, which will greatly free up more time to dedicate towards making Cyber Courses come to life!
We can’t help but make a shameless plug for ourselves. As you know, ANY.RUN is all about making malware analysis and threat intelligence easier, and we’re super excited to support cybersecurity education through a partnership with Cyber Info.
Tell us a bit about your experience with ANY.RUN and how you’re planning to integrate it into your educational content?
Aaron Fillmore: Well first and foremost, I love the whole UI. It’s not over the top and it just looks cool! On a more practical note, I really enjoy its ease of use and the features available. The different types of VMs and configurations available make the platform incredibly versatile, which has been incredibly helpful for teaching others.
I’ve been using ANY.RUN while livestreaming malware analysis challenges. Sometimes a malicious executable will be provided and the ability to show the viewers what is going on is superb. Everything is easy to read and there is plenty of information!
What’s it been like — running Cyber Info so far?
Aaron Fillmore: There have been many rewarding moments. It is incredibly rewarding to see people’s excitement when we can point them in the right direction, answer their questions, and concepts start clicking with them. I absolutely love being able to positively impact those who will go on to do great things.
Challenges are plenty when it comes to running a nonprofit, especially the leadership aspect. Managing timelines and ensuring we’re moving in the right direction on top of working full-time has been one of the greatest challenges of my life, but so very rewarding. It is easy to get overwhelmed with the “to do list”. The thing that keeps me going is knowing that overcoming these challenges will have positive impacts on the world around me.
We’re still very young and our primary projects are still in the works, but I’d have to say just surviving the first year and still moving forward has been great to see.
It’s easy for things like this to fizzle out, but I feel like we’ve already had a super positive impact with our community.
Thank you so much for the interview, Aaron!
Cyber Info’s Discord is where it’s at right now – at the time of writing their community is about to break 7,000 members – a huge congratulations! If you’d like to join and chat with Aaron personally, you can do so by following this link.
And while you’re at it, don’t forget to join the ANY.RUN server where you can interact with our team. Here’s the link to our Discord.
About ANY.RUN
ANY.RUN helps more than 400,000 cybersecurity professionals worldwide. Our interactive sandbox simplifies malware analysis of threats that target both Windows and Linux systems. Our threat intelligence products, TI Lookup, Yara Search and Feeds, help you find IOCs or files to learn more about the threats and respond to incidents faster.
With ANY.RUN you can:
- Detect malware in under 40s.
- Interact with samples in real time.
- Save time and money on sandbox setup and maintenance
- Record and study all aspects of malware behavior.
- Collaborate with your team
- Scale as you need.
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