Anyone can be a "security engineer" on paper if they get the necessary training... but that doesn't give you the personality that you need for the job. The author does seem to have the personality to some extent... so he should be fine... but I don't think he'll ever be among the best because he did trust someone enough to have a child with them... and he took his child to a public park. That level of trust will seriously hinder his professional development as a security engineer.
How does he know his wife isn't a corporate or Russian spy sent to exfiltrate his passwords and company data?
And now that he has a son, maybe a mortgage, a wife, a reputation - all of these things are liabilities that could be used against him. Better to never have anything at all than to open yourself to ransom.
A true security engineer:
- Is unbribeable(has no earthly desires and 100% loyalty to thing he is securing)
- Has nothing of value to ransom
- Has no fixed living address(it could be targeted by missile or drone strikes and needs to be defended 24/7 in case malicious agents plant spy bugs while you're out shopping)
- Makes his own computers by melting down and reforging raw sand, boron, copper, and aluminum. (You can't be certain the NSA didn't detour your new Amazon.com laptop and plant bugs in it.)
You can be a passable average one without doing all these, but you'll never be the best.
