Name: Larisa Gabudeanu
Job Title: Privacy and Data Security Expert
Company: currently working in the banking sector, PhD candidate at Babes Bolyai University in Romania and visiting lecturer at Faculty of Cybernetics, Statistics and Informatics in Romania.
Location: Romania
Tell us an interesting or fun fact about you:
After almost a decade of being a lawyer I switched to cyber security
What drew you towards a career in cyber security?
My passion for multidisciplinary approaches to products/projects
What do you enjoy most about what you do in the industry?
Its multidisciplinary nature.
What things are the most challenging in your role?
Coordination with all departments involved in a project and awareness of security issues
What changes have you seen in the cyber security industry in the time that you have been in it? The industry at its outset included general roles of cyber security, without any specialised roles for the various aspects of cyber security. Nowadays, specialisation is also important alongside general knowledge of the industry. Also, the industry is aiming at automating, standardising and sharing as much data as possible in order to make cyber security as efficient as possible.
What trends or changes do you think we will see in cyber security in the next 10 years?
Wider awareness of cyber security and, consequently, wider implementation of cyber security in processes and software products/services. In addition, automation of more and more cyber security processes.
How much job demand have you seen for cyber security professionals, and what things to you think will shape this demand in the coming years?
Job demand has been on the rise in the last couple of years. New data protection and cyber security legislation in various parts of the globe have increased awareness and need for cyber security professionals. This has led to more specific roles being created for cyber security professionals for specific areas of cyber security.
Has the coronavirus pandemic impacted on your career, and if so in what ways?
In this period, business departments have become more aware of cyber security aspects to build into their products from the outset of their design.
What soft skills do you think are important for women in cyber security to have?
Capability to translate business requirements into technical requirements that embed cyber security controls, capability to explain cyber security concepts and processes to end-users, capability to see the big picture when implementing cyber security aspects (controls, programs, legal requirements)
Why do you think more women should consider a career in cyber security?
It is an interesting field to work in, it has a lot of sub-fields to choose from and it provides significant learning opportunities, as it is in constant change in order to reflect new technologies.
How does someone from another industry make the move into cyber security?
This field is built on logical steps and has evolved over the years based on specific main principles. Thus, these main principles should first be understood in order to build on them with specifics for each cyber security position. Further, constant reading of cyber security specific news and publications or attendance of conferences and interaction with other cyber security professionals are essential in order to keep up-to-date.
What advice would you give to a women looking to make the move into cyber security?
Try different types of cyber security trainings/conferences/summer schools and keep in touch with the cyber security community in order to identify if this field suits you and which type of activity in cyber security best fits you.
In your perspective – what are the biggest cyber security threats to companies presently? Awareness for employees and internal coordination of cyber security management and risk assessment processes.
Do you think it is important to close the gender gap in cyber security and if so, how do you think this could be done?
Awareness of types of cyber security positions and practical steps to follow can lead to more individuals pursuing education on cyber security.
While the situation in the cyber security industry has marginally improved in recent years, it is still a very male dominated world. What are your thoughts on this, and have you seen an improvement yourself? Among the students of the cyber security master where I am a visiting lecturer I have seen an increase in women pursuing this master.
Read Larisa’s chapter and others in “The Rise of the Cyber Women: Volume 1″, available now via the links below:
About Larisa Gabudeanu
Larisa Gabudeanu has a broad academic and professional international experience of over a decade in both legal aspects concerning technology (including data protection) and cyber security matters, especially in terms of governance and information security management, with emphasis on the financial sector.
