(ISC)² Blog

CISSP Spotlight: Robert Kato

Name: Robert Kato Title: IT Specialist Employer: African Development Bank Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology and Master’s Degree in Information Systems Years in IT: 10 Years in cybersecurity: 5 Cybersecurity certifications: CISSP, CCNA Security How did you decide upon a career in cybersecurity? I started my career mostly doing systems administration and networking roles. At that time, especially in Africa, connectivity and system performance were the most important aspects. We had servers that had 128GB of memory and a 64 Kpbs DSL link and would cost $500 monthly. However, with the increase in computing power and high speed internet... Read more →

CISSP Spotlight: Miriam Celi

Name: Miriam Celi Title: Technical Leader – Secure Coding IT Quality Assurance Employer: Humana, Inc. Years in IT: 20 Years in cybersecurity: 7 Cybersecurity certifications: CISSP, GISP How did you decide upon a career in cybersecurity? I got into a career in cybersecurity by chance. In early 2009, I joined a small startup that specialized in personal identity verification (PIV) solutions for the government. I was very fortunate that since the company was small, I was able to perform various roles, such as integrating products with various physical access control systems and biometric devices, representing the company in security conferences... Read more →

CCSP Spotlight: Mahbubul Islam

Name: Mahbubul Islam Title: Head of Secure Design Employer: U.K. Government Department Degree: B.Sc., M.Sc. Years in IT: 15 Years in cybersecurity: 10 Cybersecurity certifications: CCSP, CISM, SABSA, LCCP, ISO27001 LA How did you decide upon a career in cybersecurity? I started working for the U.K. government in 2001 and whilst working on various standard projects, I was successful in landing an apprentice role as an Information Assurance Manager. The role was very flexible, as it was the first of its kind which allowed myself and my colleagues to determine a structured plan to develop security skills within the fields... Read more →

CISSP Spotlight: Walter Speelman

Name: Walter Speelman Title: Senior Security Specialist, IAM Employer: The Walt Disney Company Years in IT: 26 Years in cybersecurity: 8 Cybersecurity certifications: CISSP® How did you decide upon a career in cybersecurity? I actually didn’t start off in cybersecurity. I started my career just doing typical IT functions related to the client/server environments and networks, later moving into programming and system architecture and design. While there are aspects of security in all of that, it was not until later that I moved specifically into a dedicated security role. When I started in IT, connectivity was the major focus and... Read more →

CCSP Spotlight: Kevin Jackson

Name: Kevin L. Jackson Title: Founder/CEO Employer: GovCloud Network, LLC Degree: B.S. Aerospace Engineering, M.S. Computer Engineering, M.A. National Strategic Studies Years in IT: 25+ Years in cybersecurity: 5 Cybersecurity certifications: CCSP How did you decide upon a career in cybersecurity? The rapid rise in the adoption of cloud computing by business indicates that cloud is rapidly becoming critical to the nation’s economic stability. With this, cybersecurity in the cloud will essentially be synonymous with national security. As an IT professional and intelligence community professional, it seemed like a natural path. Why did you get your CCSP®? Although cybersecurity was... Read more →

CCSP Spotlight: Abel Sussman

Name: Abel Sussman Title: Practice Director, Public Services Employer: Coalfire Degree: B.S. Computer Science, State University of New York at Binghamton, MBA, State University of New York at Albany Years in IT: 20 Years in cybersecurity: 15 Cybersecurity certifications: CISSP, CCSP How did you decide upon a career in cybersecurity? I not only wanted to grow my career, but also desired to find a way to give back to the country. My move into cybersecurity as a federal auditor provides the opportunity to assure our nation’s critical infrastructure and assets are secure and protected. My entrance into cybersecurity started with... Read more →