Cyber Careers Unlocked
From Laughs to Learning in the Cyber Trenches
In this week’s Gula Tech Adventures episode, viewers were treated to a two-part cyber buffet: first, a parody-packed animated short titled That Cyber Game Show, and second, an insightful sit-down interview with Cybrary COO Nick Misner. The episode blended satirical commentary on cybersecurity culture with a serious discussion about how training is evolving in the face of rising demand, regulatory pressures, and growing complexity.
PART 1: That Cyber Game Show – Laughing Through the Cyber Skills Gap
The animated short pokes fun at the timeless (and increasingly pointless) debate between cybersecurity degrees and certifications. It opens with a joke comparing college degrees to buffets—costly and unsatisfying—and certifications to à la carte dining—efficient and focused, yet still leaving you hungry for more. It’s comedy, sure, but there’s truth behind the punchlines.
Enter “That Cyber Game Show,” a satirical parody within a parody hosted by “Alex Trybec,” featuring a cybersecurity degreed contestant (Greg), a cert-stacked professional (Coleman), and a sarcastic AI named Sean Connor AI—trained by watching hundreds of cybersecurity videos and interviews. Categories like Passwords That Start with 123, Ransomware or '80s Rock Band, and Obscure SIEM Logs form the basis of the competition, with hilarious and unnervingly realistic scenarios.
The segment climaxes with all contestants attempting to answer: “What caused the largest IT outage of all time?” Everyone guesses DNS. Everyone is wrong. The AI, instead, trolls the host with a Midjourney-generated image of his mother stranded during the July 2024 CrowdStrike outage—a nod to real-world incidents where human and technical failure intersect.
Beyond the laughs, the segment drives home a critical truth: cybersecurity is full of ambiguity, bluster, and buzzwords, but it’s also a team sport where knowledge, training, and adaptability matter more than pedigree.
PART 2: Nick Misner on Cybrary’s Role in the Cyber Workforce Revolution
Following the laughs, Ron Gula interviews Nick Misner, COO of Cybrary, to unpack how organizations and individuals can upskill and stay relevant in a fast-evolving cyber landscape. Misner outlines Cybrary’s transformation from a third-party content aggregator to a hands-on, path-based learning platform with tightly integrated labs, assessments, and reporting tools.
Key Highlights from the Interview:
1. Hands-On, Path-Based Learning Cybrary’s model now follows a “Learn, Practice, Prove” approach. Whether you’re exploring cybersecurity foundations or training for a specific role like SOC analyst or penetration tester, users start with targeted lessons, apply what they’ve learned in sandboxed labs, and prove it through unguided assessments. No more passive video-watching; it’s all about doing.
2. Aligned to Real Work Roles Their curriculum is structured around real-world job roles mapped to frameworks like NICE and DOD 8140. This makes it easier for individuals to navigate their learning journey, and for enterprises to measure workforce readiness. Popular paths include SOC Analyst Level 1, Pentester, and Security Engineer—with more advanced AI-focused content coming soon.
3. Enterprise-Grade Metrics and Management For CISOs and security managers, Cybrary offers dashboards that track skill development using XP points, domain coverage, and baselining tools that show where individuals need improvement. Remediation assignments and post-assessments help quantify learning progress and improve talent development pipelines.
4. Accessibility and Affordability For just $59/month (or less for .edu and .gov accounts), Cybrary opens the doors to a robust training platform. Misner emphasizes that cybersecurity training must be accessible—especially for veterans, students, and career-changers—if the nation hopes to address the persistent talent shortage.
5. Certifications vs. Experience? Why Not Both. Misner acknowledges that certifications like CISSP, CEH, and others still matter, particularly in enterprise environments. But Cybrary’s approach is to also show the “doing” part—actual labs, flags captured, and tasks performed. This helps users fight imposter syndrome and prove their capability beyond bullet points on a resume.
Final Thoughts
The fusion of comedy and credibility in this episode underscores the dual nature of cybersecurity: it’s both absurdly complex and vitally important. That Cyber Game Show illustrates how language, credentials, and bravado often mask deeper misunderstandings, while Cybrary’s training platform helps cut through the noise with skills-based, mission-aligned learning.
Whether you’re a cyber newbie choosing your first path, a seasoned IT pro transitioning into security, or a CISO trying to upskill your team, Cybrary offers tools to turn chaos into capability. And as Nick Misner rightly points out, proving value and progress isn’t just about passing tests—it’s about measuring impact, building trust, and staying sharp in an adversarial world.
Want to be part of the solution? Visit cybrary.it, pick a path, prove your skills—and maybe skip the buffet next time.