In this episode of Humans of Talos, Amy sits down with Wendy Bishop, Head of Creative, to explore the vital role of design in the world of cybersecurity. From her early beginnings in web design and journalism to leading the creative vision for Talos, Wendy shares the unique challenges and rewards of bridging the gap between artistic expression and highly technical research.

Whether you're a creative professional looking to break into the cybersecurity industry or simply curious about the people behind our security intelligence, this conversation offers a fascinating look at the artistic side of Talos' mission to keep the digital world safe.

Amy Ciminnisi: Wendy, welcome! We haven’t had anyone from creative here yet. Can you talk to me a little bit about what drew you into creative work and how your career evolved into what it is now at Talos?

Wendy Bishop: I never in my entire life thought I would do anything besides something creative. It’s the only thing I’ve ever known. I have so many memories in my childhood of just being locked in my moody teenage bedroom. In high school, I started doing web design courses, and I think that’s when I really started being interested in a graphic design path. I learned Photoshop and basic HTML/CSS stuff as a side hobby. I moderated a message board for my favorite pop-punk band in high school. When it came time to go to college, there was nothing I wanted to do otherwise besides design. I found myself at Ohio University— that’s where I’m from, Ohio — in the School of Visual Communication.

I went off to a job working in newspapers. I actually never thought I would, but it was the job I found after college, and I designed news pages. It sounds funny now; it was already dying then, probably not the best long career path. But I think my background in journalism and communication-driven design is really what made me a great fit for the kind of design work we do here at Talos. We work with complicated materials, and a lot of the creative work we do is comms-driven. Our blog in some ways functions as a news outlet, so visual storytelling is a lot of my job. But of course, we have a lot of regular, branding-based design work now that comes out of my team.

AC: We just had a really big report come out that has occupied our minds for months, especially over here in design. Can you talk a little bit about the 2025 Year in Review and share what that process is like?

WB: When it starts to take shape, I look over that draft with the team and we talk about each graphic. I say, "That one might be better if we did this," or "This is missing that piece for when it goes into production." I really start to wrap my mind around the various assets and how we would go about taking what is essentially an Excel graphic or something created in PowerPoint and making it into a much more polished and designed presentation.

We get a sneak peek, and then one day it lands on your desk, Amy. From there, my designers and I put it together. It’s a lot about putting that puzzle together, thinking about what makes sense on each page, making sure the content flow is clean and linear, and the adjacencies of the graphics are in the right place. I come to you and say, "Amy, I need a headline," or "Does this make sense?" We come up with a look and feel and theme for the whole report every year that’s greater than just the layout of the document. That gets extended to all the other companion pieces — our videos, social graphics, and any continuing campaign pieces.

Want to see more? Watch the full interview, and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for future episodes of Humans of Talos.

Welcome back! This week, we're shining a spotlight on Kri Dontje, a technical writer who’s become an essential voice in making Cisco Talos' work understandable for a wide audience. With a background in technical communications and a career that began at a small startup, Kri discusses the importance of consistency, accuracy, and accessibility in documentation, as well as how to get the most out of a subject matter expert-technical writer relationship.

Now transitioning into a new role, Kri continues to bridge the gap between deep technical expertise and clear communication. When she’s not decoding cyber jargon, she’s hand-spinning yarn for stunning knit pieces, showing that creativity and tech go hand in hand. Keep an eye out for more content featuring Kri in the future.

Amy Ciminnisi: Can you tell us a little bit about what you do here in Talos?

Kri Dontje: Absolutely. I have a technical writing degree — technical communications — which means I translate very technical topics into something that other people can understand if they're not necessarily experts in that field. I've had a very nontraditional career. My first position was at a very small company, 14 people at its largest. I did documentation, design and demonstration videos, and rebuilt their help system from the ground up. It was interesting and terrifying because I was learning it completely alone.

I'm also a huge nerd and a learning junkie, which helps with this kind of job. I enjoy being around people who are into really complex things and talking to them about it. I spent a lot of time around a local miniatures wargaming shop and became friends with a bunch of nerds, some of whom have migrated into Talos.

I transitioned over to the strategic communications team as a research engineer. I’m going to focus more on communicating about Talos at a slightly more technical level than our communications have been to the public for a while, while still creating content that makes Talos accessible for people as much as possible.

AC: What do you think are the most important qualities or skills that make someone a really good technical writer, especially in a fast-changing landscape like cybersecurity?

KD: That’s a big contradiction. One of the most important things for tech writing is consistency and accessibility. It’s not a career that encourages adjectives. You want to use the same word to mean the same thing every time because if you use a fun synonym, the reader might think it’s an entirely different concept.

Versioning is a big problem. People won’t trust documentation if they find bad information in it. They’ll never think it’s a reasonable place to go again. So keeping things accurate is really important.

Being snoopy and not being afraid to feel real stupid in front of extremely smart people is also key. Usually, you can find common ground. It’s important to recognize you’re not talking down to the audience or making the information for stupid people. Even within Talos and the cyber community, everyone has broad-ranging specialties. Most people don’t know what others do or can’t figure it out without spending a lot of time and energy they don’t need to. So the important thing is to bring the information to a level where other very intelligent people can cross-reference it and make it applicable to what they’re doing.

Want to see more? Watch the full interview, and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for future episodes of Humans of Talos.

Cisco Talos is back with another inside look at the people who keep the internet safe. This time, Amy chats with Ryan Liles, who bridges the gap between Cisco’s product teams and the third-party testing labs that put Cisco products through their paces. Ryan pulls back the curtain on the delicate dance of technical diplomacy, how he keeps his cool when the stakes are high, and how speaking up has helped him reshape industry standards. Plus, get a glimpse of the hobbies that keep him recharged when he’s off the clock.

Amy Ciminnisi: Ryan, you shared that you are on the Vulnerability Research and Discovery team, but you work in a little bit of a different niche. Can you talk a little bit about what you do?

Ryan Liles: My primary role is to work with all of the Cisco product teams. So anybody that Talos feeds security intelligence to — Firewall, Email, Endpoint — anybody that we write content for, I work with their product teams to help get their products tested externally. Cisco can come out all day and say our products are the best at what they do, but no one's going to take our word for it. So we have to get someone else to say that for us, and that's where I come in.

AC: Third-party testing involves coordinating with external organizations and standards groups. You mentioned it can be difficult sometimes and you have to choose your words carefully. What are some of the biggest challenges you face when working across these various groups? Do you have a particular method of overcoming them?

RL: The reason I fell into this role at Cisco is because of all the contacts I made while working at NSS Labs. The third-party testing industry for security appliances is like a lot of the rest of the security industry — very small. Even though there's a large dollar amount tied to it in the marketplace, the number of people in it is very small. So you're going to run into the same personalities over and over again throughout your career in security. Because I try to generally be friendly with those people and keep my network alive, I have a lot of personal relationships that I can leverage when it comes to having difficult conversations.

By difficult conversations, I mean if we've found a bug in the product or if a third-party test lab acquired our product through means not involving us and did some testing that didn't turn out great, I can have the conversations with them where we discuss both technically what was their testing methodology and how did they deploy the products. If there were instances where we feel maybe they didn't deploy the product correctly or there's some flaws in their methodology, being able to have that kind of discussion with a test lab, while not frustrating them, takes a lot of diplomatic skills. I think that's the biggest contributor to my success in this role — being able to have those conversations, leaving emotion out of things, and just sticking to the technical facts and saying, here's what went wrong, here's what went right, let's figure out the best way to fix this. That has really contributed to how Cisco and Talos interface with third-party testing labs and maintain those relationships.

Want to see more? Watch the full interview, and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for future episodes of Humans of Talos.

Cisco Talos is kicking off the new year with a behind-the-scenes look at incident response through the eyes of Terryn Valikodath, Senior Incident Response Consultant at Talos. In this episode, Amy sits down with Terryn to explore the realities of a job that blends technical know-how with communication skills, proactive planning, and a passion for problem-solving. Terryn’s path to cybersecurity started with a fascination for criminal forensics and a knack for jailbreaking his family's tech — interests that eventually steered him toward the fast-paced world of digital investigations.

Join us as Terryn shares what keeps him motivated during high-pressure incidents, the satisfaction he finds in teaching others during cyber range trainings, and the creative outlets that help him recharge.

Amy Ciminnisi: Can you tell us a little bit about what you do here in Talos?

Terryn Valikodath: Absolutely. I’m a Senior Incident Response Consultant, so essentially an incident responder. The unique thing about our team is that we handle both proactive and reactive work. On the proactive side, we help develop incident response plans, run tabletop exercises, threat hunts, training, and similar tasks. On the reactive side, we step in when an organization experiences a security event, investigate, and provide recommendations to get them back up and running. It’s rewarding to see both sides of the work.

AC: On my end, I'm always amazed at all the different services Cisco Talos Incident Response provides. Is it difficult to balance them, and is there a part of the job you enjoy most?

TV: It definitely takes some getting used to since most cybersecurity roles focus on either proactive or reactive tasks, not both. But it’s helpful, because our direct experience informs the advice we give. For example, when we develop an incident response plan, we can reference real situations we’ve handled. That builds trust with customers. My favorite aspect is running cyber range trainings — a three-day course where we teach technical folks how to handle incident response. I’m passionate about teaching, both externally and within our team. I enjoy demystifying the field and showing people that it’s about dedication and learning, not just being a specialist.

Want to see more? Watch the full interview, and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for future episodes of Humans of Talos.