GO PHISH
techniques and approaches . For me , this is the challenge our customers all face and want to overcome . COVID-19 and the need to operate assets remotely has also accelerated this move .
How do you deal with stress and unwind outside the office ?
I love rugby , always have . My playing days are gone but I still watch a lot and enjoy seeing all levels . With a name like mine , I guess I always would !
Spending time with family is also incredibly important and making sure the balance between work and home is there is vital to sustaining a great balance . Pre-COVID , we travelled a lot and hope to return to this . We lived in Spain some years ago
and still love the country , its varying landscapes and climates , and we can ’ t wait to get back there .
If you could go back and change one career decision what would it be ?
I don ’ t really look at things this way . Any role you go into can be shaped and it creates new and different opportunities .
If anything , though , it would probably be that I shouldn ’ t have been so reticent to enter general management . As an operations person , you always worry about your ability to do the business ’ winning and customer piece , but in reality , customers just want honesty , integrity and , above all , delivery on commitments . You don ’ t survive in operations if you don ’ t have that part .
What do you currently identify as the major areas of investment in the cybersecurity industry ?
For cybersecurity providers , automation and using new approaches like AI to find and resolve problems before they occur is interesting and a lot of research and investment will continue here .
For Thales , it ’ s things like cyber deception and having the truly representative test environments that allow you to master cybersecurity in OT .
Are there any differences in the way cybersecurity challenges need to be tackled in the different regions ?
Much like business , there are cultural differences in how open people are to sharing their cyber experiences . A big way of learning in cyber is to share how organisations were attacked so that others can try to avoid it in the future .
The willingness to share this still varies across regions . Also , in the mission critical areas of cyber , we often deal with securing national infrastructure which brings in differences in standards , methodologies and ways of approaching and managing risks . But the best practices can always find a way of being shared . We often deploy approaches we have learned with clients in Australia , Europe or the US and deploy them here in the UK .
We lived in Spain some years ago and still love the country , its varying landscapes and climates , and we can ’ t wait to get back there .
What changes to your job role have you seen in the last year and how do you see these developing in the next 12 months ?
I have recently taken on responsibility for the cybersecurity business in the US and Canada . This is really exciting as it allows Thales to share more offers and information between North America and the UK . It also helps some of our clients to have a more converged approach when they operate in both locations . This all aids our overall push to provide global services to our customers and we are making real progress here . I see strong growth in our sector over the next 12 months as investment plans and digitisation continue to build at pace in the sectors we serve .
What advice would you offer somebody aspiring to obtain a C-level position in the security industry ?
I would absolutely recommend working in this field . There is so much variation in what you do and the opportunity to work with people that create new ideas and solutions every day is a privilege . The security sector is fast paced and challenging but also really collaborative and forming teams both inside and outside Thales to create a new offer or win new business is a great thing to do . u
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