hi! it’s lovely to meet you :)
about me
the professional
Part software developer, part storyteller, part appsec specialist and apparently the closest thing the security community has to Olivia Colman.
I would love to be able to tell you my polished origin story - the one where I had a plan, executed it perfectly and voila, here I am. Like most of us however, I have had an incredible wobbly path to get here and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Mine is a story best told over a cup of coffee but here are some of the highlights:
Apprentice software developer age 17 for UK HMRC (tax).
BSC Hons Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence - Aberystwyth University (15 years before that was a valid career path - oops)
Wrote real-time radiation monitoring software for CERN in Switzerland.
Five years doing technical counter terrorism work for UK Government.
Seven year itch as a penetration tester and red teamer (breaking things for the greater good)
Short stint as a security auditor (now reformed) at KPMG.
Founder of SafeStack - early on as a security consultant, now a application security education platform.
10 plus years helping some of the fastest growing companies on earth bring security to their software development lifecycles without getting in the way of doing the cool innovation stuff. (Think CISO meets appsec engineer meets relationship counsellor)
I have done a few notable things outside of my paid employment too:
Founded In2securITy, a non-profit and cyber security teacher to 1000 students in the summer of 2012
Co-author of two books (Security for Everyone and Agile Application Security).
Regular writer for a range of technology and business publications such as Forbes.
Keynote speaker and regular panellist at conferences around the world.
Chaotic podcast host and story collector with Build Amazing Things (securely)
the human
Outside work, I live in New Zealand with my husband and two daughters.
In my spare time I enjoy reading (epic fantasy novels of questionable quality), restoring old furniture & machinery and macro photography.
I’m an introvert that has spent 15 years pretending to be an extrovert (I’m getting pretty good at it). I love stories, games and play of all kinds. Many people say I have a calming voice.
Oh, and I hate having my picture taken and have a natural ability to go from normal to awkward in seconds when confronted by a camera. You have been warned..
official biography
Laura Bell Main is a global leader in developing secure software.
With over twenty years of experience in software development and cyber security, she is the co-author of "Agile Application Security" (O’Reilly Media) and "Security for Everyone" (Holloway). Her work has been featured in many international publications, including WIRED and MIT Tech Review.
She is an experienced keynote and conference speaker, presenting at BlackHat USA, RenderATL, and leading international software development and cyber security conferences.
As the CEO of SafeStack, a leading secure development education platform, she helps software development leaders worldwide engage their entire team in building secure software.
Let’s do something amazing, together!
Whether you need a speaker, coach, mentor or training for your team I’d love to help