Interview with Tyler Jones

Interview conducted July 9, 2016 with Tyler L. Jones

Nearly every technical piece of information included in my novels comes from online research and interviews with subject matter experts. Tyler L. Jones is what the trade calls an ethical hacker. He is a specialist in digital forensics. I his words that makes him a malware slayer and exploit hunter. In lay terms, he hacks computers and networks.

The character Billy, in High-Rise Crew Dirty Money, is also a hacker, someone Mr. Tyler would both admire and hunt. Billy writes code. Tyler is proficient in C++, Java and numerous scripting languages. He is adept in database manipulation including MySQL and Microsoft SQL. The character Billy is adept at penetrating firewalls. Tyler is a specialist in pen testing, which includes social engineering methodologies. Billy knows a dozen ways to attack an operating system. Tyler can do that too, but he also protects the OS, at least insofar as that is possible.

Among other skills, Tyler conducts threat modeling and intelligence gathering. He performs vulnerability discovery and assists companies with codification of intrusion prevention policies and procedures. If you need information systems audited, Tyler is your guy. He’s my guy too, because on top of all that he does, he is willing to be a subject matter expert for my novels.

Tyler’s major contribution will come in the second novel of the High-Rise Crew trilogy, Financial Insiders. I’m conducting research for that novel now. In this interview I tug at some of the challenges micro and small businesses face with security. We will touch on corporate firewalls in the novel, but the big guys have deep pockets and layers of protection. Many of my readers may not.