Meet Some Computer Science Experts
Intel Corporation
Suzan Hawbaker
Security Compliance Lead
What led you to choose your career?
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My career found me. Thru odd paths I arrived in a Data Analyst role and we did not have a security risk manager available so I ended up managing the security for my team.
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Describe a typical day at work. What are your main responsibilities? What kind of problems do you solve and what decisions do you make?
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I work in Software Security and my focus is Process Improvement. I have a mix of duties that include reviewing software for security issues, looking at the tools and processes we use for our jobs and looking for better ways and finally confirming security issues ad making sure we correct them. My team is spread between CA, OR and Mexico. Most of my day is in meetings and looking at the software and tools.
What kind of education and training does your job require?
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Most people in my job have a computer science degree and some have a focus in Information Security. In addition there are certifications. I have 2 of them currently. I am a Certified Information Systems Security Professional and I have a certified Ethical Hacker certification.
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What skills, abilities, and personal attributes are essential to be successful in your field?
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I am detail oriented and I am very good at getting details from my team on what they are up to. In addition, since I am in Security, I have a trust but verify model all of the time.
What is your favorite part of the job?
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Investigating new issues. I get to research new vulnerabilities and look for ways to eliminate them. I also like teaching my development team about security.
What advice would you give a tween who is interested in pursuing a career in your field?
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There are lots of ways to get engaged in security early. You can try creating your own website and then find the ways it can be hacked. There are many open source tools available to do this. Attend a hackathon in your community and do some self study for the certifications. Lastly, go to college and focus on the Computer Science and security fields.
Intel Corporation
Jennifer Edmonson
Application Security Product Manager
What led you to choose your career?
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I have been at Intel for 26 years, mostly in Information Technology. As a matter of fact, I have been in IT so long it wasn’t even called IT back then! I landed in Information Security completely by accident. In 2014 or so I was asked to join an Identity and Access Management project as a lead systems analyst. I have since moved to several domains within Information Security: Cryptography/PKI, Application Security, Cyber Intelligence and back to Application Security where I am now. I feel like Cyber Security is one of the best careers out there and I cannot imagine leaving this field any time soon.
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Describe a typical day at work. What are your main responsibilities? What kind of problems do you solve and what decisions do you make?
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I am an Application Security Product Manager at Intel, and I have held this role for two years. My primary responsibility is to ensure I have the tools and processes my Intel developer community needs to keep Intel secure. Intel has thousands of applications that we use to run our business and these applications must be secured continually to protect Intel from attacks. I own 5 tools, most of which are application scanners, used to scan code for vulnerabilities during the different phases of development. My tool suite includes an SDLC (software development Life Cycle) tool that provides security controls for application development, a SAST (static application security testing) scanner, a DAST (dynamic application security testing) scanner, a serverless server (to scan for serverless vulnerabilities in the cloud), and an SCA (software composition analysis) scanner. I have two teams: One team of engineers to build and support these tools, and one team to roll out the functionality of these tools to our customers and work with our end users to help keep their applications secure. I make decisions on things such as how we should engineer these tools with new functionality and when to release it, how to improve our processes, and how and we should communicate these changes to our users. My teams and I also help our end users make decisions on designing their systems securely and how to remediate their vulnerabilities. A typical day at work for me is spent on meetings. So many meetings! I meet with both of my teams to discuss our roadmap and processes. I meet with end users to help solve their issues. I meet with my vendors to discuss my tools. I also meet with other colleagues to discuss security issues, solving both small and complex security problems. Sometimes I have time for my own personal development where I will attend webinars and other training sessions. Also, during my day, I might work on product roadmaps and other technical documentation. I do quite a bit of juggling throughout the day.
What kind of education and training does your job require?
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To work at Intel in Information Security we require a technical degree in a relevant field (Computer Science, Engineering, Cyber Security, etc.). Additionally, Cyber Security requires some specialized training as there are numerous domains. There are numerous security certifications that can be obtained, and we value them highly at Intel. Having a security certification will typically yield you a higher paying salary. This is a great field to earn an excellent income right out of college!
What skills, abilities, and personal attributes are essential to be successful in your field?
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To be successful in my field requires a passion for learning, a strong work ethic, motivation, and integrity. Cyber Security threats are constantly changing, and it is critical to not only understand the current threat landscape but the tools and trends to address these threats. Our work in security is never done: Some of us work long hours to resolve issues and we are exposed to sensitive information so integrity in keeping this data confidential is critical. Once you become involved in security you’ll know quickly if you have the passion for it. If you do – you’ll be a lifer.
What is your favorite part of the job?
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My favorite part of my job is working with my team! They’re amazing, smart, hardworking, and dedicated to their jobs. I learn something from them every day and we function very well together as a team to solve problems and help each other and our customers. The second favorite part of my job is solving security problems that have a direct impact in keeping Intel secure. It’s a very satisfying part of my job – knowing that I am making a difference.
What advice would you give a tween who is interested in pursuing a career in your field?
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My recommendation is to NOT be intimidated by what seems like an intimidating field still dominated mostly by males. We are working diligently to change that, and we need more women in cyber. Some jobs in cyber security are technical (engineering and development), but there are plenty of jobs in my field that require non-technical skills. We need project and program managers to direct the work of the teams and land big programs. We need people to understand the aspects and impacts of risk management. We need people to develop security policies. We need educators to teach cybersecurity, and we need leaders to lead teams and motivate people. When I speak at conferences and to students I tell everyone the same thing: I can teach you cyber security. I cannot teach you drive, passion, and work ethic – you need to come to the table with those skills. I encourage you to investigate the different domains in cyber security and find something that interests you. There are numerous free resources (classes, You Tube videos, podcasts, etc.) to explore. Some of my favorites are:
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https://medium.com/javarevisited/5-best-free-cyber-security-courses-for-beginners-a4abec9d5e6c (this article contains an updated 2022 list of free courses on Coursera, Pluralsight, Udemy, etc.)
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Cloud computing: https://aws.amazon.com, https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/azure/
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Security standards/agencies/frameworks, etc: https://www.nist.gov, https://www.cisa.gov, https://www.mitre.org, https://cloudsecurityalliance.org
Banking
Jaya Karthikeyan
Senior Vice President
What led you to choose your career?
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My education in the field of engineering and available opportunities when I graduated are two primary reasons for my career in technology
Describe a typical day at work. What are your main responsibilities? What kind of problems do you solve and what decisions do you make?
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I am currently the Senior Vice President in the Engineering field (technology) in the Banking domain. My primary responsibilities are technology strategy, transformation in the field of architecture, creating roadmaps, delivering products; Other duties such as people management, vendor management, production issues etc. are part of day-to-day activities.
What kind of education and training does your job require?
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It requires education on the technology field- such as Engineering or Masters in Computer Science; training in software tools, package is necessary to get into an entry level role.
What skills, abilities, and personal attributes are essential to be successful in your field?
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Skills - technical skills required to support your application/systems (e.g., JAVA, Python, C++ etc.)
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Abilities - problem solving skills, analytical thinking, communication (oral and written).
What is your favorite part of the job?
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I enjoy driving business value, providing good consistent customer experience across the products I support. I also like developing people, mentoring.
What advice would you give a tween who is interested in pursuing a career in your field?
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I would say, to enjoy the learning (whatever software tool/package) you are learning; be curious on what you are learning; Always opt for a hands-on experience for coding (not just theory); articulating your work (what/how/why); understand the product or business you are supporting.