Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Chats with law enforcement experts and leaders
Hi. This is Sergeant Betsy Brantner Smith with the National Police Association, and this is the National Police Association Podcast. I have a terrific guest on today that you know, we talk so much about cybersecurity. We talk a lot about the Secret Service. And this is someone I met, dare I say it, decades ago, and, as one of my own students.
Betsy Smith:And, and now she is retired herself and setting the world on fire. So I knew that you had to meet her because not just because of her background, but because of what she's doing now. So we got a lot to talk about. Hazel Cerra, welcome to the show.
Hazel Cerra:Thank you for having me, Betsy.
Betsy Smith:So you have this, like, foot in two camps. You know? We're gonna we're gonna talk about cybersecurity and things like that. I mean, you're really on the on the cutting edge of of so much right now. But before you're doing what you're doing, you had this whole other career as a Secret Service agent.
Hazel Cerra:Yes, ma'am.
Betsy Smith:So first and foremost, I gotta ask you. Why'd you become a cop?
Hazel Cerra:Wow. I thought I knew you were gonna ask me that question. So, I became a cop because when I was young, I always found myself having very little tolerance for people that were taking advantage of others. And my father always taught me to do the right thing, work hard. I was an immigrant.
Hazel Cerra:We came from Cuba when I was young, and I saw my father work really, really hard. As a matter of fact, I remember him saying that, you know, because he didn't speak English at the time, that, you know, when immigrants come to this country, you're hired for your arms and your legs. So he taught me to to work hard, go to school, and do do something important with my life. And I always gravitated to helping others. So, when I went to college, I majored in criminal justice.
Hazel Cerra:So I knew early on that that was the field that I wanted to get into. And, I graduated from there, and I was hired by the attorney general's office. I was, investigating, insurance fraud at the time. And that's when I started really investigating cases and solving problems and really getting into the weeds of these investigations. And I felt like I was making an impact.
Hazel Cerra:So I became a cop because of those reasons. I I really felt strongly about protecting others and more specifically the vulnerable. You know?
Betsy Smith:And I'm so glad you said that because that, a lot of us, you know, we we you're you were raised like I was raised where, you know, you you do the right thing and you follow the rules and and all that kind of stuff. And, and then you go into this field and, like, with you working at the attorney general's office, you're seeing people really taken advantage of. Right? Like, you're really seeing the dirty underbelly of people that that we didn't see necessarily see a lot as kids and things like that. What what was your first thoughts there, though, that first time at the AG's office where you're like, wow.
Betsy Smith:There's some really evil people out here.
Hazel Cerra:Oh oh, yeah. I saw a lot of that. I had I had one investigation that it was a gentleman that was claiming to be completely disabled, and he was trying to get disability, benefits from the state. But we caught him practicing basically, running around the field, and he was practicing for the marathon. And not only did he do that regularly, he actually ran the marathon, the New York marathon, and he finished under five hours.
Hazel Cerra:So here's someone that was claiming to be completely disabled, wanted to just get a paycheck, and had all this evidence. I mean, was every week, he was out there training. So it was crazy to me that there would be somebody that was doing that. And I ran my investigation. I went to the New York Runners Club in New York City, got the documentation that he, in fact, ran the marathon, had a picture of him finishing the marathon.
Hazel Cerra:And that's when it was like, wow. This is insane that people actually take advantage of benefits that way. And that wasn't the only one. I mean, I had so many people that were claiming to be completely injured, and there wasn't anything wrong with them.
Betsy Smith:So you took that talent and that drive, and, you decided to go into federal law enforcement. And and, you know, you went into the Secret Service. Now your average person thinks about the Secret Service as, you know, you go to the academy, do some training, and then you're in the White House, right, watching the president. Tell people what are what's the reality of. And what else I don't think people really understand what else the Secret Service does because it's really, really fascinating.
Hazel Cerra:Yes. So, I I, joined the Secret Service because I felt like I wanted to set the world on fire. And I felt like I the space I was in was not sufficient for me. I wanted to do more. So the opportunity presented itself, and, I was I was hired, after a very long process.
Hazel Cerra:But I spent twenty five years in the United States Secret Service, and my role was centered on protecting world leaders and, obviously, the president, a vice president, other four heads of state. And it wasn't just, physically, but through protective intelligence, doing advanced work, critical systems protection. And, you know, and later on in my career, I ended up running the cyber fraud squad in Philadelphia, and I finished my career as the resident agent in charge of the Atlantic City resident office. But throughout my career, I also investigated financial crimes. So it wasn't just counterfeit currency, but it was cryptocurrency investigations that I ended with.
Hazel Cerra:But in the beginning, it was more of credit card fraud, identity theft, and lots of skimming investigations. I mean, I there was so much fraud out there. I mean, we were very, very busy with those investigations. But it was that dual mission that really drew me. It was the protection along with the investigations, and they complemented each other.
Hazel Cerra:And, you know, you would hear the agents tell that to you, especially your supervisors. They would say, if you were a good investigative agent, then you were naturally gonna be a very good protective agent and that it didn't really transfer, both ways. And, I I was like, well, then I need to be a really good investigator because that's that's the secret. Right? So I really invested all of my time, trying to be the best investigator that I could, and I just had that natural ability to be very curious.
Hazel Cerra:And, I mean, and we had all the resources to to be curious and to be able to solve a case as long as you were enthusiastic about your your work, and I and I was. And And I remember my supervisor telling me, we could train you for everything, but we can't make you enthusiastic. And and I was. And, you know, I really, really took that with a grain of salt. Like, I I remember feeling like, okay.
Hazel Cerra:There is something different about me. I'm not your average agent. I I do enjoy what I'm doing. I do want bad people to, you know, to to be put away so that they can't harm other people. I really felt that mission.
Hazel Cerra:Mission. I I I I had that calling to be protective.
Betsy Smith:Right. It wasn't just a way to pay your mortgage. Right?
Hazel Cerra:No. In fact, I didn't have enough didn't make enough money to pay a mortgage at that time. So
Betsy Smith:I want you to dispel a myth for me right now. I'm gonna put you on the spot. When when you have a protectee, you know, whoever it is, president, vice president, you know, whatever, let people know that you, as a Secret Service agent, don't get to say to your boss, oh, you know what? I don't like his politics. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna protect him.
Betsy Smith:Right? Tell people the reality of politics and being in the Secret Service.
Hazel Cerra:I really am glad that you asked that question because we, in the Secret Service, our task is to protect democracy. We are the guardians of democracy. It doesn't matter who is in office. At the end of the day, that person represents our country, and we don't want another government or anybody to threaten our democracy by changing history, by harming them. So, no, we don't get to pick and choose, which party, they serve.
Hazel Cerra:We are there for a mission and that is to protect our country and our democracy, period.
Betsy Smith:You know, did you ever walk through oh, I'm sure you did. You know, you walk through the halls of whether it's the Capitol or the White House or or any, you know, any of the other spaces in our nation's capital And and just think to yourself, the you know, here I am. Here I am, a kid from Cuba. Yes. And this is where I am.
Betsy Smith:I mean, there you had to have some really profound moments, didn't you?
Hazel Cerra:All the time. All the time. Just pinching myself. Like, I can't believe that I'm actually here, and I'm doing this. And, you know, my father's not around anymore, so just, you know, looking above and, like, I hope you're proud of me and proud of what I'm doing here.
Hazel Cerra:I had that moment even more so when the president Obama visited Cuba, and I was fortunate enough to go and be there with president Obama in Cuba because I would never be able to go otherwise because of my background. So having that time in, you know, a a a country where I was born in that I was very young when I left and being able to, you know, experience history because, the last president that was there was was Carter so long ago. So it you know, there's been many opportunities, not just being in the White House or the Capitol or a building. It's just being able to witness history and being in the presence of the president. And even something so small that we see every day, being in front of Air Force one, I mean, I would always get chills just just seeing it, just just knowing that that represents this country that we're in.
Hazel Cerra:And, you know, my family and I, like, we're huge, patriots. We love this country. We love the opportunities that it has given us. And, I mean, it it it it's the best role for me because I wanted to give back to my country the way that it gave to me.
Betsy Smith:I love that. That gives me chills. That's, you know, that's what we we we love this country, and and and, and, of course, we especially love its law enforcement officers. And, and and I, you know, I just love that description. You so you gravitated more toward the end of your career.
Betsy Smith:You really got into something that, quite frankly, you can't, you know, open up a a newspaper that's metaphorical. Of course, we all read all our news on our phone. But without learning about some cybersecurity attack or some someone being doxxed or, you know, there's so much, you know, Bitcoin fraud and and just on and on and on and on and on. And and and that's your focus now. And that was your focus toward the end of your Secret Service career.
Betsy Smith:Right? Yes.
Hazel Cerra:Yes. Yeah. When I was in the Secret Service, I before I went to my protection time, I saw the shift where things were starting to transfer into the digital space. And when I completed my time in protection, it was completely different. The trends had changed where now we were seeing skimmers that had Bluetooth on them.
Hazel Cerra:We were, dealing with network intrusions like the target breach. So everything had changed more onto the the you know, with the Internet and the advent of social media. Like, everything just just transitioned. So when I saw that shift, I knew that it was important for me to start learning about that if I wanted to continue to, focus on my investigative skills because counterfeit was was less and less, attractive. It wasn't really, occurring very much.
Hazel Cerra:It was, like, less than 1% of the money being circulated was counterfeit in our country. So it just didn't make sense for me to do that anymore. I wanted to be challenged. So shifting over to, the network intrusion space, getting that training, That was the new types of investigations. We were getting calls a lot of small businesses that were being targeted just because a lot of small businesses know, we're used to being a cashless society.
Hazel Cerra:And during that time, you know, I don't know if you remember. You probably do. Going to the supermarket, you always paid cash. You've never paid with a credit card. That was just weird.
Hazel Cerra:Right? Like, you can't afford your groceries. You gotta pay with a credit card. Well, that was the norm. And if you wanted to be a successful business, you had to start accepting credit card because, otherwise, you know, you were gonna turn away business.
Hazel Cerra:So having that shift, the owners didn't necessarily think about security. That was not part of their, transition or, you know, their it was an extra charge if you wanted to have the cybersecurity tools in your, payment system. So they wouldn't have it, or they'd have a family member that installed the system for them. So it became, you know, they were vulnerable to these attacks. They were leaving the, remote desktop on.
Hazel Cerra:And by leaving it on, you basically was, like, leaving the door wide open for, you know, a threat actor to get in there and exfiltrate the credit card data. So we were seeing a trend of these, and it was, I remember going to several supermarkets, and I would just ask them, okay. Who did your IT? And then I would get that information and then basically have to go to all of the stores that this particular vendor created the infrastructure for payment systems because it was all configured incorrectly, and there were gonna be more attacks. So that that just transitioned into more the evolution of fraud on on the Internet.
Hazel Cerra:And then there was always a team, we called it critical systems Protection that supported the presidential visits. And for many, many years, I just didn't really know what they did. So the way the the service structured it was that if you, were a network intrusion agent or if you did forensic exams, then you could, you know, enhance your training with what we call CSP, critical systems protection. And that was applying what you have learned in the cyber studies, applying it to a protective advance. So we were looking at all the infrastructures that, were impacted with the presidential visit and things like, for example, things you don't think about.
Hazel Cerra:Like, if he's gonna go to a conference and the lights are connected to the network, well, a hacker can go in there and basically turn off the lights and scare everybody, and it could be like a mass, exodus and create a lot of problems for us. So the lights anything that was connected to the network, we had to basically look at it and mitigate it. So I got involved with that.
Betsy Smith:See, and I'm glad you said that because we we, you know, we think about I mean, everybody knows that fraud occurs. You know? You know, we we're all on the Internet now. Everything's electronic. But, you know, even ten or fifteen years ago, all we were worried about was things like clicking on a bad link in an email, you know, things like that.
Betsy Smith:The the the old Nigerian print scam, which I still know people who have been taken advantage of by that. But but now it's so much broader. It's so much more sophisticated. And and one of the big concerns, and I I own a small business is even for a small business owner is, you know, a hacker can quite easily get into all of your systems and take control of everything. Right?
Betsy Smith:Take control of your your books and your presentations and your your personnel stuff, and and that's a real concern for pretty much every working American, isn't it?
Hazel Cerra:Oh, absolutely. And the information is already out there. A lot of times when these breaches occur, that information is then placed into the dark web and criminals purchase it. So if you're not changing your passwords regularly or if you're not using a password manager, that information is exposed, and it's just as easy as them just purchasing the that, you know, the the passwords and getting into your, know, your social media or your email or anything that you have.
Betsy Smith:So talk about so here you are. Now you're getting all this training. You've got this expertise, and you're thinking, well, maybe it's time to retire. Right? Because twenty five years is Yeah.
Betsy Smith:That's a long time. And, you know, what, you know, what were you you know, what was your thought process? Like, what am I gonna do for because for people who don't know, cops, we tend to retire somewhere in our fifties, and, you know, you still have a lot of time to, you know, to work. And what what was your thought process in making that transition into the private sector in part because you are such a runner and gunner that, you know, I what what was your thought process when it's like, jeez, I'm not gonna be an agent anymore. I'm gonna go do something else.
Betsy Smith:Talk to me about that.
Hazel Cerra:Yeah. That's that's, you know, the crossroad for all of us. Right? Like, we know we can't stay forever, and many of us have, like, an idea of what we wanna do when we retire. But the idea that I had when I was, you know, an an agent in in you know, when I first started, we all thought that we were gonna be running some department in the financial industry with our, you know, super investigative skills.
Hazel Cerra:That's kinda like what they tell you because that's what they're doing during that time. Right? But things change. So my plan was really to start my own business. I felt like I wanna do something for myself.
Hazel Cerra:I wanna be able to have that work life balance again. And I really wasn't sure how I was gonna do it, but that was kinda what was sitting in the back of my mind. And, it didn't happen that way. It did not happen that way at all. I got really just caught up with still being an agent.
Hazel Cerra:I was running my office. And during the end of your career, you're mentoring and you're coaching the new agents because the mission continues, and they're young. So you have to basically do an an intense brain dump on these individuals because the responsibilities that they have is so intense. It's just so demanding on them. So being able to have those conversations, really strong leadership, which we we have, and I worked for some of the most amazing, incredible leaders, some of some bad ones too, but, they they really showed us why leadership was so important.
Hazel Cerra:And I realized that at the end of my career when I was coaching these agents. And I realized that when my time came up, I I had to make a decision because I had the cyber background. I had that experience, and I wanted to utilize it. I didn't know exactly how, but I knew that if I continued and I wasn't applying those, that expertise, I was going to lose them. So what we call skill rot.
Hazel Cerra:So, I I had to make a decision of where when I was gonna leave. And, anyway, what ended up happening was, one of my, colleagues recommended me for a position, and I didn't wasn't really looking for anything at the time. So this literally was, an amazing referral. And, you know, once I got to learn more about the company, the company's name is Blackcloak, I was like, yeah. This is totally me.
Betsy Smith:I love that. I love that. So we're gonna talk about what Blackcloak is and what you do. But I wanna ask you, one more Secret Service question, and, we're talking a little off the air about this. But, you know, I I started as a a female cop in 1980.
Betsy Smith:Nobody wanted females then. You know? And and, and, you know, then when you started, there were quite a few women more to come, during your career. But there's still some, and especially recently, women in federal service, especially women in the Secret Service in the last couple have really gotten, I think, kicked in the teeth, you know, because everybody else sees, you know, two seconds of a video or five seconds of a video and say, oh, she shouldn't be a cop. They shouldn't have women in the Secret Service, all that.
Betsy Smith:You know? Give me your thoughts on all of that because you were. You're a woman in a very male dominated organization for twenty five years.
Hazel Cerra:Yeah. So it's funny because I that wasn't something that they taught you in school. So when I was in college and were learning about criminal justice, never once did they say, well, there's not a lot of women in police in policing. I they never talk about it. So when I was first hired with the Secret Service, I remember getting the list, and it had, like, all of your, you know, the agents that were assigned to you in in a class.
Hazel Cerra:And it was, 24 of us, and I was the only female. And, I remember looking at that list, and I saw one that hit, the name was Lon, l o n. And I was like, well, maybe that's a female. And what and I remember telling my supervisor, like, there's no women in this class. And he's like, oh, yeah.
Hazel Cerra:You know, that's pretty typical. That's normal. You'll be fine. There's plenty of women that, you know, we have on the job now, so it just depends what assignment you're in, blah blah blah. He, like, kinda, you know, waved it off like it was no big deal.
Hazel Cerra:I was terrified. I was like, oh my gosh. What have I gotten myself into? But, training went well. I found, 23 of my new best friends, very type a personalities.
Hazel Cerra:They were amazing. No complaints. Got through training. That was fine. But, I did realize that we had about 10% females on the job.
Hazel Cerra:It was very, very low. But it was also consistent with other federal law enforcement agencies. So we were all struggling with that. And it was the main reasons were women wanting to have a family and not being able to have both. Right?
Hazel Cerra:It was like you had to make the decision whether you wanted to be a mom or you wanted to be, you know, a big bad blah blah blah agent. So, you know, the and then I I saw a lot of females, making that choice, and they were leaving. So it really was hard because as you were getting to know somebody and, you know, getting familiar with them and, you know, creating that bond, that friendship. A couple months later, they'll say, oh, I'm gonna have a family. I'm leaving.
Hazel Cerra:And it was it was it was tough because you just felt like, is that the writing on the wall for me? Like, is that what's gonna happen? So, you know, like you, I also prolonged having a family because of that situation, so I waited until I was in my 30s. But I also saw some women that were, waited too long, and then they couldn't have children. So there was, a conference that I went to, the WIFL conference, which, really was a big eye opener for me, and you spoke at them.
Hazel Cerra:And I remember one woman saying, do men think about when they're gonna have their children? No. They don't. They just have them. So why are you waiting?
Hazel Cerra:And that was all I needed. That was like, okay. I'm not waiting anymore. I'm gonna do what I need to do. I'm just gonna let, you know, let it play out.
Hazel Cerra:So, you know, that was one of the main challenges in the Secret Service as far as being a female. But other other things that I remember was, you know, not being in the same rooms or in the same, I guess, events as some of the guys. Like, you know, the guys are gonna hang out afterwards and drink. They're gonna go to the ball game. They're gonna, you know, be in the locker room longer and talk about things, and you're not in present in those conversations.
Hazel Cerra:And it's not done intentionally. It's just that you're just not, you know, one of the guys, and that's okay. I learned that I'm not one of the guys, and one of the guys aren't gonna wanna be one of the girls. So why am I trying to be a guy? Like, it's it doesn't make any sense.
Hazel Cerra:And I was comfortable in my own skin to be a woman, and that is what made me happy. Yes. I got my nails done. Yes. I like to wear makeup.
Hazel Cerra:That's who I am. And it took me some time to realize that that was okay, because what I learned was that a lot of women were basically suppressing your female, tendencies. Like, you are trying to, curse more, you know, to be one of the guys. You're you're kind of, you know, wearing some men clothes and things like that. So it was just that studies were showing that.
Hazel Cerra:And, when I became comfortable with myself, it was it was things changed. I I felt like I could bring a new perspective to the table. I was able to shine in those areas where, you know, there was competition because I was competitive. So I could take on the the challenges that some, you know, people didn't wanna do. And that's how I was able to shine and then, you know, kind of, again, bring a different perspective to the table.
Hazel Cerra:Whereas, you know, my male colleagues, they were great. But, you know, looking at us women because we were the minority, they may have a different outlook on on can we, you know, handle ourselves in difficult situations. And, that's something that's always in the back of your mind. And I don't care who you are. You don't know how you're going to react until you're in that situation.
Hazel Cerra:It really it doesn't matter who you are. Just because a woman maybe acted a certain way I've seen men act certain ways as well that weren't, indicative of what how a law enforcement officer should should respond or should be. So I think we're all human. And regardless of gender, we are we all have a role in the in law enforcement, and we all work together as a team. And you have to have that team that team mentality.
Hazel Cerra:And I will tell you, that the one of the first things that my supervisor said to me, he said, we don't hire we're not looking to hire the strongest people. We hire the smartest people because we could throw 10 smart people at a dumb guy, you know, at a big strong guy. And that I've always remembered, and it stuck with me.
Betsy Smith:Well and so here you are now. You've got a a big title. I want you to tell people what that is. At a at an organization called Blackcloak, and and, it's I was reading, you know, some of the stuff that you guys do and and all that, and it's really fascinating. And it and it it you're you're using that brain now that you have in those investigative abilities.
Betsy Smith:Talk about what you're doing because it's fascinating.
Hazel Cerra:Oh, well well, thank you for that. So today in my role at Blackcloak, I'm translating those same principles of the presidential protection methodology into the digital world, because we know that the reality is that you don't just protect the building. Like, we don't just protect the White House. Right? We protect the president.
Hazel Cerra:So in the private sector side, we have to shift to protect the human. And that those humans now, they live a very exposed digital life in the digital ecosystem, especially our executives, because according to the Verizon, DVR report, executives are 12 times more likely to be targeted than any other employee in the company. So they're very vulnerable. Back in the day, say, I don't know, let's say sixty years ago, the president was really the only person that was out there in the media, the news, on the newspaper, on the radio, and there's were people out there that didn't agree with the way the country was being run. Right?
Hazel Cerra:So they wanted to take, matters into their own hands, and that's where we had so many assassinations and assassination attempts. Well, now the executives are the ones that are visible. They because of the advent of social media, they're out there, you know, in the media, same same thing. And, they we haven't caught up with protecting them in the same way that the Secret Service has.
Betsy Smith:Well and and now we're, we're in this society that, you know, people see, you know, an executive of a private company online. I mean, obviously, we've had it happen. And they're like, I'm taking them out. You know? I'm gonna do this.
Betsy Smith:I'm do that. I'm gonna dox them. I'm gonna go harass them at their home. I'm gonna go to their kid's school. I mean, people are crazy, and they they they seem more, more emboldened, I guess, sometimes to do things because we live in this weird TikTok world of not only do I have to attack somebody, but I gotta record it.
Hazel Cerra:And that's just awful. Right? Like, people that are standing there instead of helping, and they just pull out a phone to record. I mean, those videos just make me stick to my stomach, especially when it's violent or or when there's children that are being hurt and you're just standing there. That that's the kind of stuff that, just makes me crazy.
Hazel Cerra:I I don't understand it. But but, yeah, that is a true challenge.
Betsy Smith:So, you I know we're running out of time, but, you know, I just gotta say you are I'm gonna have to have you back for another segment Because, you know, you you really you chose the hero's path. You really did. From from college on, you made that decision. And, in in part, you know, based on the way you were raised, in in part, based just on your your heritage, your gratitude toward a country that did afford, you know, your family, like all of our families, an amazing opportunity. You served, and, and now you're in the private sector, again, doing some some heroic and fascinating stuff.
Betsy Smith:So tell people, Hazel, where they can connect with you. How can they find you?
Hazel Cerra:So I am very active on LinkedIn, so you can connect when we're there. I, I help a lot of executive protection firms fill that gap with digital executive protection. So please reach out to me if you need my help even if it's just to have a conversation.
Betsy Smith:I tell you, I can't thank you enough for for doing this interview, for spending time with us today. And, if you'd like more information about the National Police Association, you can visit us at nationalpolice.org.
NPA:Every day, the brave men and women of law enforcement put their lives on the line to keep us safe, but they need our help to continue their mission. Activist politicians, progressive prosecutors, the ACLU and the rest of the anti police forces receive millions in donations from extremist pro criminal elements like George Soros and woke corporations. The National Police Association is fighting them in courts around the country including the United States Supreme Court, defending officers who are being attacked for doing their jobs. Additionally, the National Police Association works year round to pass tough on crime legislation to put and keep criminals behind bars. Consider going to nationalpolice.org and donating to keep us in the fight.
NPA:Together, we can win. That is nationalpolice.org.