The second AntiView in the row – more to come soon!

Born in Germany, British nationality and living in the US… That must be Tiger Shark!

Tiger Shark’s profile on AntiOnline

Name: Tiger Shark, (pleading the 5th on the real name - too easy to find me on the internet from previous lives - all above board I can assure you - but I don't really want my street address linked to this online personality....

Place and date of Birth (or age): Munich, Germany though I am British... My father was studying at university there.

Current place of residence:Detroit, MI, USA

Marital status: Single, and my sweetie and I intend to leave it that way for the foreseeable future.





AO: How did you get into computers?

Tiger: I started "playing" with them while in the military in 1982. I saw an ad for a Sinclair ZX-81 and thought it would be cool.... I was then given computer related tasks in the military when they came up.

AO: What is your area of specialty?

Tiger: My designated tasks within my company revolve around the network level... WAN's, LAN's, network level troubleshooting, firewalls, IDS, General Security, publicly accessible services such as email, HTTP, VPN etc.

AO: What do you do for a living?

Tiger: Manager of Information Systems.. Or, as I prefer to introduce myself in meetings, "Chief Geek"

AO: How did you get into your career?

Tiger: It was pure dumb luck. After getting to the USA I got a job as a Customer Service Rep for a micrographics company, (I needed a job... OK..). They had a Compaq "portable" that no-one was using, (a 286). It had DBase III on it and I started programming databases to help manage the customer base. Pretty soon I was the most proficient in the shop on their own computers/Novell network so they made me systems specialist. Then I was trained in their mainframe software we gave to clients and before long I was the District Systems Specialist for PA, DE, NJ, NY and RI.... Then I left there and got my current job as the Manager of Information Systems and have been here for the last 12 years.

AO: Describe your education and/or training?

Tiger: Err... Low... No degree. For the Brits here I have 5 O levels and the equivalent of a City and Guilds (grade 1(?)) in Aeronautical Science gained through my time flying in the Air Force.

AO: Do you plan on staying where you are (career-wise) or are you still in school / working on certs to get into another area?

Tiger: I like where I am... The pay is fine and the pressure is low. I really don't want to work 70 hour weeks but will do if I have to. Ten years in the military 24/7 sort of beat that "I must work every waking hour" thing right out of me....

AO: What one piece of advice would you offer to others who may be interested in following a career path or educational path similar to yours?

Tiger: If you don't love it you'll never be any good at it and if you aren't any good at it you will be paid what you are worth or less and will always be the first to be without a job in hard times. You have to want to visit http://isc.sans.org right after you get up every morning to see what is going on....

AO: What skill do you think is invaluable in your area of specialty?

Tiger: There's no single skill or quality in my opinion....

A good general knowledge of your systems and a detailed knowledge of how this "network thingy" works. Without them troubleshooting becomes "shooting in the dark" and security is simply impossible. Oh, and did I say you have to enjoy it..... Staring blankly at logfiles is mind warpingly boring if you either don't want to or you have no idea what you are looking at or for.... Then you need a healthy dose of suspicion in your personality, (paranoia can be a good thing), coupled with a healthy competitiveness, (they aren't going to beat me and get in here).

AO: Describe one of your best / most effective security practices.

Tiger: Attention to detail... though I am as guilty as the worst of us at being complacent sometimes. If you don't attend to the details someone you don't want attending to them might do it for you.... That would be considered a "bad thing"....

AO: Do you have a little-known fact about yourself (personal, hobbies, tech-related) that you would be willing to share?

Tiger: Little known... That would be something I don't "brag" about.... I cried my heart out each time I had to put my German Shepherds down both within 18 months, (Hank at 9 years with an incurable disease and Emma, (my first dog), at 14 years due to hip failure)... Yes, I am a softie.... But usually only with animals....

AO: How did you find Antionline?

Tiger: I don't remember, but it was probably dumb luck again... I get a lot of that in my life.... But that's ok....

AO: Anything else you'd like to share?

Tiger: I like beer and it seems to be quite fond of me too...