Meet Pablo Breuer

Meet the members of Ohio State's Cyber Security Canon Committee.

 

Pablo Breuer

Dr. Pablo Breuer brings a rich history of expertise to vetting #cyber #books for the Canon as a former US Navy military director of Special Operations, advisor to SOFWERX, the National Security Agency, and US Cyber Command, Director of C4 at US Naval Forces Central Command, and a DoD Cyber Cup and Defcon Black Badge winner.

 

He has taught classes for various US government agencies and industry on topics ranging from malware reverse engineering and exploit development to cyber policy and authorities. Pablo is also a cofounder of the Cognitive Security Collaborative and coauthor of the Adversarial Misinformation and Influence Tactics and Techniques framework.

Interview

What books are on your nightstand?

Confessions of an Economic Hitman

Fall (Neal Stephenson)

CISO Desk Reference Vol II.

 

What’s the last great Security book you read?

Like War, Practical Malware Analysis

 

Are there any classic novels that you only recently read for the first time?

N/A

 

Describe your ideal reading experience (when, where, what, how) 

Quiet Sunday morning with coffee.

 

What’s your favorite book no one else has heard of?

Originals or Computers Ltd

 

Which writers – novelists, playwrights, critics, journalists, poets – working today do you admire most?

Philip K. Dick

Neil Stephenson

 

What’s the best book that’s been made into a great movie?

Do Cyborgs Dream of Electric Sheep / Blade Runner

 

What qualities make a book especially well suited for adaption to screen?

A compelling story with relatable characters facing moral ambiguity

 

What Security book would you most like to see turned into a movie or TV show that hasn’t already been adapted?

The Cuckoo's Egg or The Samurai and the Cyber Thief (both on the same

topic)

 

Do you count any books as comfort reads or guilty pleasures?

What writers are especially good on the workings of the entertainment industry Science Fiction is my guilty read

 

What’s the most interesting thing you learned from a Security book recently

The number of ways that artificial intelligence (AI) can go horribly wrong ("Weapons of Math Destruction.")

 

Which Security subjects do you wish more authors would write about?

Design ethics, malware reverse engineering, ARM assembly

 

Do you prefer books that reach you emotionally, or intellectually?

Intellectually and morally

 

Which genres do you especially enjoy reading?  And which to you avoid?

Science/Tech, Innovation, and Science Fiction (enjoy) Historical fiction (avoid)

 

How do you organize your books?

Programming, Cybersecurity, Reference, everything else

 

What book did you feel as if you were supposed to like, and didn’t?

Burning Chrome and Mona Lisa Overdrive

 

What books are you embarrassed not to have read yet?

The Art of Computer Programming

 

What do you plan to read next?

Burn-In

 

What book do you wish was never converted into movie?

Starship Troopers

 

Which book or movie most inspired you in this field?

The Cuckoos Egg, Computers Ltd., “Sneakers”