Living with AD(H)D in Infosec

I was diagnosed with AD(H)D in my mid-40s. At this point I realized I didn’t really know anything about ADHD other that I certainly wasn’t what I thought was a stereotypical ADHD-person.

So I started educating myself and after a while I started thinking that I wasn’t the only one who needed to learn more about ADHD so I started talking about what led me to get diagnosed, which experiences I’ve had since the diagnosis and of course what ADHD really is.

I’ve done the talk for a while now and it has blown me away how many people in infosec are neurodiverse and how little it’s being addressed in general. I’ve been able to educate and inspire a lot of people just by doing a brutally honest talk and for that I’m immensely grateful.

I want to make a difference with it, and the way you can help is by getting me more speaking opportunities.

A Brief Introduction

Knowing I have ADHD prompted a change

After nearly two decades in infosec, trying a lot of roles without ever specializing, I realized that the part I actually loved was what I did in my spare time: organizing meetups where infosec people could learn something, meet each other and have a good time. Nothing in my day jobs came close.

It took me a while to see that this could be a career. The hardest part was accepting that it meant doing marketing. To me it was never marketing. It was just loving the community.

Career shifts coming up!

I became head of community at a startup doing open-source security. It pulled together everything I had done: 25 years with Linux, infosec, organizing OWASP Copenhagen meetups and founding BSides København. I loved that job. It ended unexpectedly just before New Year 2022.

I had a history of short jobs behind me and no great confidence that the next one would be different, so I took some time to think. My wife pushed me towards freelancing. As she put it: “You can’t talk about having ADHD and the challenges it brings without acting on them and reshaping your professional life into something more suitable for you.”

So now I’m freelancing, trying to make the world a better and more secure place by doing what I find fun and engaging. Spreading the word, educating and helping is just that!

Speaking about ADHD

My talk is about pursuing what makes you happy, regardless of mental diagnoses. If the right job doesn’t exist, it’s up to you to create it.

It’s also about understanding ADHD, its symptoms, and accepting that being different is okay, as long as you acknowledge and work with it in some way. You only get one life. Make the most of it.

I do the talk to get ADHD talked about, to poke at the taboo, and to help. Mental health diagnoses are probably more common in infosec (and IT in general) than most people think, so this matters. It gets conversations started, helps companies handle diversity better, and lets more people in this industry have a good life.

The talk is in Danish or English, virtual or in person, and takes about 30 minutes. In person it usually ends up closer to 90, because it starts conversations: people with the same challenges, managers who want to handle neurodiversity better, and plenty of others.

It is a personal talk. When you speak openly about something like this on stage, other people do too. The room gets honest, and the conversation gets useful.