Robert Lerner – Security Rants and such

Information security leader. Builder. Troubleshooter. Technologist.

I lead professional services teams, solve security problems others avoid, and bring decades of hands-on experience to code, infrastructure, and systems: both modern and forgotten.

My work spans:

Leading high-performance application security teams
Consulting on web and API security, SDLC, and developer training
Diagnosing and remediating legacy system failures
Architecting weird but functional systems across software, hardware, and physical interfaces

If you’re looking for someone who understands the code, the people, and the real-world implications, I’m probably your guy.

What I Do

🔐 Application Security Leadership

I run teams that make software better, and safer, without grinding engineering to a halt. I’ve helped organizations shift left, build right, and avoid dumpster fires masked as minimal viable products.

🛠 Professional Services Delivery

I’ve spent years building security vendor space professional services teams. I know the value of clarity, scope control, technical depth, and keeping clients from spiraling into churn.

🧠 Cross-Disciplinary Problem Solving

From firewalls to firmware, from deprecated PHP5 apps to bizarre edge cases in auth flows — I bring clarity to chaos and direction to ambiguity.

I Learn by Doing, Then I Share It

My personal projects often bleed into my professional thinking. I’ve:

Reverse-engineered alarm systems (just because)
Built hand-wired computers, emulated theoretical systems, and built applications for systems that are older than I am
Created physical tools for retro tech no one else bothered to fix
Explored how physical security and software intersect in the real world

These aren’t just hobbies — they sharpen how I approach systems thinking, threat modeling, and technical leadership. Some of that work is on my blog.

Looking for:

Director-level leadership roles in application security or professional services
Consulting engagements that need real technical credibility and clear client guidance
Cross-functional projects where security, development, and legacy tech collide

If you want a collaborator who can lead, deliver, and still write code when needed, let’s talk. If not, I’ll be over here talking to AI.

Welcome!