The hoodies behind Zerocopter

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Welcome back to one of our favourite blog series, where a different member of the team is introduced on the second Monday of each month. In these posts, you can find out more about the hoodies behind Zerocopter!

Our second conversation is with Warner Dijkstra. He is the Finance Manager at Zerocopter and he takes care of everything finance related within the organisation.

Please tell us a bit about yourself, who is Warner Dijkstra?

Warner Dijkstra, 53 years, background in Healthcare, Finance, consultancy, (project) management. My hobbies are my Daf 66 (1973) and Volvo P1800 “the saint” (1963). The first one is totally restored and driving, the second far from 😔 .

How would you describe your job title in a couple of words?

I am the Head of Finance at Zerocopter.

What do you like about working as the Head of Finance? 

Finance covers all aspects in the Zerocopter organization, you are involved with all colleagues with all questions for HR/finance-related, you deal with customers, suppliers, insurance, housing, tax and planning.‍

If you could trade positions with anyone in Zerocopter for a day, what would it be and why? 

Nice one! It is no secret within Zerocopter that I am clearly not a hacker or computer expert in any way or form. I am very interested in this field, like the stories on how a database or a piece of hardware is hacked, and the steps taken. I do understand the risks and vulnerabilities much better now and know that my security awareness is increasing each day. But back to the question, I would like to hack for a day, help our customers raise their security and help making the internet safer.

What have you learned from working at Zerocopter? 

The internet is huge and you can find “everything” if you know where to look. Basically, the nature of the hacker, search and you shall find (if you know how).

When was the first time that you heard about the term “Bug Bounty” or “Responsible Disclosure/Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure”?

I was in contact with Edwin van Andel before I started at Zerocopter, so the term RD (Responsible Disclosure) was already familiar, but suddenly CVD (Coordinated Responsible Disclosure) came along, and it took me a day to find out that both are the same.

What resources (books/podcasts/courses etc) would you recommend to someone (new) in this industry?

Difficult question - you have the rules and regulations which are general for all industries, but not specifically for cyber security. Our business model has its own challenges, and I think there are no books for it. I follow a certain set of companies and their blogs on development and changes in the field. Because I work in finance, I am more interested in the developments in HR or changes in regulations on tax, bookkeeping, sick leave, and more.

What is your favourite stereotype about the hacking industry and why? 

Of course the hoodie!! It is both a stereotype of this industry and an adopted uniform by hackers. The hoodie needs some sort of text, mostly regarding conventions or events. 

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We hope you enjoyed getting to know Warner a little better! Stay tuned for our next post in February!

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