This episode welcomes Ted Harrington, a celebrated ethical hacker, TED‑X keynote speaker, and executive partner at Independent Security Evaluators (ISE). With decades of real‑world experience hacking everything from iPhones and cars to medical devices, cryptocurrency platforms, and password managers, Ted brings unmatched expertise to our conversation. He’s built a reputation for uncovering hidden vulnerabilities, helping clients such as Google, Amazon, Netflix, Microsoft, Disney, and Adobe to fix tens of thousands of security flaws—demonstrating why no system is truly unhackable.
In this episode, Ted walks us through his journey from early penetration testing to leading elite security research. We discuss the lessons from Ted’s two influential books: Hackable: How to Do Application Security Right and Inner Hacker. Hackable guides developers, executives, and security teams through building threat models, finding and fixing vulnerabilities early in development, and integrating security into code and culture so organizations can earn trust—and sales. Inner Hacker delves deeper into the hacker mindset: how curiosity, creativity, and rule‑breaking thinking can be applied, not only to cybersecurity, but also to entrepreneurship and personal growth.
Finally, Ted reflects on his TED‑X talk “Why You Need to Think Like a Hacker” and delivers ideas from his keynote programs—inviting listeners of Cyber Distortion Podcast to embrace four hacker traits (curiosity, creativity, persistence, and nonconformity) and use them to out-think attackers, address novel threats like AI‑driven deepfakes, and build stronger systems and teams from inside out.
Tune in to enjoy a lively, illuminating mix of war stories, strategic insight, and actionable takeaways from one of the most trusted voices in ethical hacking today.
CITATIONS & LINKS:
🎙️ Official and Authoritative Links
📚 Buy Ted’s Books
🎤 Talks and Keynotes
🎧 Other Podcasts & Interviews
🔗 Professional Profiles & Media