John Stillwell is a Technical Solutions Architect based in St. Louis, MO at the Advanced Technology Center (ATC). Tell us about your background and how you got into technology: I've been immersed in digital technology as far back as I can remember. Somewhere along the way, I developed "the knack" to better understand and interact with it. A focus in the digital technology space became the logical pathway in my academic career. After graduating with my B.S. in Computer Science, I was fortunate enough to land an exciting job aiding in the fight to keep hackers out of our nation's critical infrastructure-- namely bulk electric systems. I did that for about 8 years before deciding to come to WWT. What is your role at WWT: I am a Technical Solutions Architect in the ATC and I assist with customer proof of concept and lab as a service engagements focused around cyber security. I also assist with vendor ecosystems and security product integrations. What innovation is happening in your technology focus area that has you really excited: The areas of cybersecurity I'm most excited about are smart contracts as well as confidentiality and integrity around Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial Control Systems (ICS) devices. IoT and ICS devices tend to have limited processing capabilities by economical design, so random number generation and subsequently encryption can be a challenge with these device types. It will be interesting to see what solutions become available as these technologies continue to prevail and need to be afforded advanced protections. Describe a recent interaction with a customer that led to solving a problem: Regulations around cybersecurity can certainly be burdensome. When requirements are non-prescriptive and have a wide breadth of possible interpretations and solutions, the correct path forward can be about as clear as mud. I assisted a customer with selecting the best security solutions for them, taking appropriate positions to comply, as well as developing the studies and test cases for them to be confidently compliant.