Why Tony Hawk wears a helmet and why developers should too

Many of the worlds best developers work on solving the hardest problems that often also address multi-billion dollar markets. High risk, high stakes and high reward. These developers are to the software industry what Tony Hawk is to the skateboarding community.

Tony Hawk wears a helmet because he does difficult stuff. And for those who aspire to be a star like him, it’s the norm to also wear a helmet when doing new difficult tricks. Same goes for our developer stars. They embrace security because their stuff is worth it.

If you’re building code that is taking high risks with high rewards and under high stakes, then it’s simply smart to embrace security.

By Mark Curphey

Mark Curphey, Vice President, Strategy
Mark Curphey is the Vice President of Strategy at Veracode. Mark is the founder and CEO of SourceClear, a software composition analysis solution designed for DevSecOps, which was acquired by CA Technologies in 2018. In 2001, he founded the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP), a non-profit organization known for its Top 10 list of Most Critical Web Application Security Risks.
Mark moved to the U.S. in 2000 to join Internet Security Systems (acquired by IBM), and later held roles including director of information security at Charles Schwab, vice president of professional services at Foundstone (acquired by McAfee), and principal group program manager, developer division, at Microsoft.
Born in the UK, Mark received his B.Eng, Mechanical Engineering from the University of Brighton, and his Masters in Information Security from Royal Holloway, University of London. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling, and cycling.

Why Tony Hawk wears a helmet and why developers should too

Related Posts

5 Predictions About Managing Software Risks in 2025

Software Liability Comes to the EU: Navigating New Compliance Challenges

Introducing Veracode Risk Manager: A New Chapter in ASPM Built for Scale