Adventures in Tech
An internet pioneer reflects on Case, cyber crime, and partnering with a shark
Sean Higgins was the keynote speaker in October at CAA Connects, a networking event for alumni and students. Photo by Abbie Murphy.
Sean Higgins, MS ’90, did not set out to pioneer cybersecurity. Like many IT specialists of his generation, he rose with a young field, following opportunities and adventures.
With a computer science degree from Purdue, Higgins came to Cleveland to work for GE Lighting and earned his master’s degree in electrical engineering from Case Institute of Technology. A posting to Canada connected him to a young entrepreneur named Robert Herjavec, today known to millions as one of the sharks on the television series Shark Tank.
The pair began working together and in 2003 co-founded the Herjavec Group, which specialized in cybersecurity. For nearly 20 years, they designed and sold firewalls and tried to outsmart the hackers.
Now semi-retired, Higgins consults from his home on Vancouver Island, Canada. He also helps to award Junior-Senior Scholarships as a member of the board of the Case Alumni Association. He sat down with Case Alumnus to share his thoughts on careers, cyber crime, and swimming with a shark.
Why is cybersecurity so essential today?
Because there’s so much connectivity in our lives. Your cell phone, it’s connected to everything. Your computer, your printer, they can all talk to each other. There are bad actors who take advantage of all this connectivity. A lot of times, it’s just people with time on their hands — they just like to know how things work, and they say, “I wonder if I can make it do this?”
And sometimes it becomes a criminal enterprise?
Sometimes, because people have found ways to monetize what they’re doing. They used to just take information. Probably the biggest threat today is ransomware, on the cybersecurity front, where they are going to encrypt your data and make you pay them to get the data back.
Can any network be entirely secure?
No, because there’s a lot of creative people out there who can probably find a way in. We have to stay vigilant. We have to constantly teach people, because unfortunately people are our weakest link. It comes down to simple things like, if you’re not expecting a package, and FedEx sends you an urgent message about a package, that’s junk, get rid of it. But they keep finding different ways to get to you.
Let’s go back to the beginning. What was your big opportunity?
I started my career at the GE Lighting Group, writing programs to count light bulbs. I had an opportunity to be the “IT guy” at their plant in Oakville, Ontario. The first thing I had to do was set up connectivity between the Canadian and U.S. operations. I had to buy some equipment to do that. I happened to buy the equipment from a fellow named Robert Herjavec. Like a good salesman, he stayed in touch. In 1992, I became his first engineer.
And how did you get into cybersecurity?
We listened to our customers. Companies were starting to use the internet for business. They wanted to set up private networks and they needed firewalls, the protection for secure connections. We started installing firewalls. We were the first in Canada. Pretty soon, we were No. 1 in the market.
What was it like working with Robert Herjavec?
Before his first book came out, he asked me, ‘What one word would you use to describe me?’ And I said, ‘Driven.’ And he said, ‘A lot of people have said that about me.’ And that became the title. He is very driven. Always looking forward. It was exciting. Me being a tech guy, the CTO, there was always a new problem to solve, new technology to learn. He was the visionary and the sales guy. I was the guy who made sure the stuff worked.
How did your Case education help?
I think what Case offered to me was a different way to think. You learned how to put different things together to make something work. Case got me to that extra level of thinking.
Was there a favorite professor?
Wyatt Newman (now professor emeritus). GE wanted me to get a master’s. I had no idea what to study. Someone suggested robotics. I thought, ‘What the heck, robots are cool.’ It turned out to be the first course that Wyatt Newman taught at Case. And I had a lot of fun. I got to see the lab he was building out. I ended up getting my master’s under him. For my thesis, I built a robot to play air hockey.
What prompted you to get involved with the Case Alumni Association and the Junior-Senior Scholarship program?
I was just excited about the scholarship committee, being able to give out money, meet students, find out what they’re doing. What I really enjoy is when you get that student who is doing something they are passionate about. When that comes through in the interview, whatever it is — the rocket team, Baja, soccer — that excitement of doing more than just coming here for school, I love to hear it. Then I’m like, ‘OK, I want to give you more money.’
What advice do you have for a young person hoping to succeed in tech?
First off, know what’s important to you – and that changes over time. You get a partner, now you have to consider the two of you. You get kids, it changes again. But know what’s important to you.
Second, you don’t need to have it all figured out. You just need to know the next two or three steps. Yes, you can have the big goal. But what you really need to know are the next two or three steps you need to take. That should be your focus. You can have a big picture, but it’s going to change.
I started my career writing programs to count light bulbs, now I’m a cybersecurity expert. If you had asked me to draw a line from there to here, I would not have been able to do that. I just knew the next two or three steps I wanted to take.
To learn more about the Junior-Senior Scholarship program and the scholarship committee of the Case Alumni Foundation go HERE.
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