Bias Begins With the Person You Imagine

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Pierce and Hoffman opened the session, their third year at Defcon on bias. The goal: examine how identity perception influences cybersecurity interactions. They asked the audience to create personas representing common stereotypes in the field. The talk pushed attendees to examine where their biases come from and how those biases affect decision-making, hiring, and policy. The exercise was designed to be immersive, not theoretical.

Personas Expose Stereotypes Across Roles

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Four groups presented personas. Group 1 described a female project manager – assumed neurotypical, strong communicator, but not technical. Group 2 pictured an arrogant white male IT leader in his 40s, resistant to change. Group 3 built an ISSO: male, educated at a good college, probably not Black. Group 4 created a DevSecOps developer on an H-1B visa from India, introverted, motivated by visa security. Each persona revealed unstated assumptions about gender, race, and immigration status.

Code Switching Costs Authenticity

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Pierce, a 6’5” Black man with dreads, described wearing a fedora to disarm others. Hoffman explained she used to dress in pencil skirts and silk blouses to avoid being seen as Black or female. Both agreed that code switching is the opposite of authentic. Audience members shared similar stories: a three-piece-suit wearer at Defcon, a deputy CISO in casual clothes who gets ignored by salespeople. The pressure to fit in can mask identity for years.

Inclusive Leadership Starts With Empathy

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Pierce and Hoffman urged leaders to create space for people to be authentic. Hoffman noted that her own code switching ended only when she reached a senior role. Pierce emphasized that a leader must understand the fears of a woman, an immigrant, or a Black man – fears he will never personally experience. The session closed with a reminder that cybersecurity remains a people business, and empathy improves both teamwork and outcomes.

Notable Quotes

co- switching is just the opposite of what we all should be, authentic Kik Pierce · ▶ 42:43

I realized that no matter how I looked, um, they were still going to perceive me the same exact way Kik Pierce · ▶ 42:38

A smile doesn’t represent the same thing to everyone Kik Pierce · ▶ 44:28

be true to yourself. Know how to talk to people whether in office or not. But you don’t have to fit that mold Dr. Jermaine (audience) · ▶ 50:01

We are people. Yes, we work in technology and live in technology and sleep around technology and everything else, but we’re still people Jessica Hoffman · ▶ 56:35

Key Takeaways

  • Identity perception biases affect threat modeling, hiring, and team dynamics in cybersecurity.
  • Code switching is a survival tactic that undermines authenticity and inclusion over time.
  • Leaders who make room for different perspectives build stronger, more effective security teams.