Development drilling starts on Ichthys

5 Minutes with Senior Infosec Consultant, Uwe Fischer

More and more businesses are realising the need for experienced InfoSec specialists. According to PWC's Global State of Information Security, the growth of digital devices is driving risk management. Businesses see the real need for emerging technologies, but are more aware than ever of the risks. We've had the opportunity to grab 5 minutes with Senior InfoSec Consultant, Uwe Fischer. He talked about the changing face of information security and the challenges businesses face in 2018. How did you get into Info Sec? After finishing my masters degree in computer science I was fortunate to receive a job offer in IT Sec thanks to good networking and my personal qualification. You work in a niche role. What specific challenges do you face? The day to day challenge is raising awareness of cyber security, and inform about the necessity. With enhanced security comes decreased usability. There seems to always be trade-off to be made. When it comes to enforcing strict security guidelines, high level management needs to be onboard for support. However gaining trust and identifying key decision makers is tough as not all may be visible by looking at an organisational chart. What are the biggest security threats to businesses today? Recent articles recommend focusing on inside threats. Over privileged user accounts on software systems for me is the most severe aspect. Employees are enabled to execute unwanted actions be it with or without malicious intent. Combined with the all-time favourite “weak passwords“, an intruder can too easily cause hazard. How is the cyber security sector adapting to new cyber threats? From my understanding the focus is shifting to find ways to better react to threats rather than trying to close all holes. SIEM, CASB and artificial intelligence are going to be focus points. One promising addition to traditional measures is having the ability to mitigate incidents, while trying to keep user experience as lean as possible. How can businesses protect themselves better? This question has to be answered on an individual basis. But in general, it is always recommended to regularly have security professionals do tests and analysis. These will yield individual recommendations. Addressing threats to cyber security must continue to be an ongoing, data-led process. What has been your biggest professional success? In the banking industry it is mandatory to fulfil regulatory requirements. Certification of users and their privileges on IT systems is one of the security-relevant requirements and effects all employees. My team and I, as lead consultant onsite at the customer, have established an IT system and assisted in multiple successful executions of certifications, creating trust and reliability. What advice would you give to IT professionals looking to move into Info Sec? Be ready to constantly improve. Keep up-to-date, know your field of expertise in detail, pay attention to tangents and think outside of the box. It is vital to prevent incidents through architectural, technical and regulatory means, but there will be an incident eventually. And when that time comes, you need a strategy to cope with it. Preferably beforehand! Information Security demands expertise from specialist IT professionals. At Montash, we identify top information security talent to ensure that you get the protection you need.

7 questions with a recruiter... Dan Palmer's recruitment story

In our latest blog, we spoke to Dan Palmer, Principal Consultant here at Montash. Over the last three years he has worked his way up from Researcher to managing international relationships for leading tech clients. We asked him 7 questions to get the inside scoop on what it's like to work in recruitment. 1. What Did You Do Before Getting Into Recruitment? I left college at 18 and faced the question that everyone in my shoes has to answer: Go to university or choose something else. For me, something else was heading into London and start working. I worked for an insurance company for two years, which gave me plenty of phone sales experience in a commercial environment. 2. Why Did You Choose Montash? I had a family friend who has been successful in recruitment many years ago and after Hastings, I found that developing relationships with clients was something I discovered a passion for. So in 2014, I got a job as a Researcher at Montash for the Oil & Gas market… and I haven't looked back since. 3. Tell Us About Your Experience in Recruitment My first year was all about learning the recruitment ropes. I learned very quickly that phone time is golden. The more time you can spend talking with clients and stakeholders, the faster you build relationships and the better you can serve their needs. During that first year I learned a lot about international recruitment. After getting promoted to consultant after a year, I moved to IT and, building on my experience, helped build up Montash's presence in the German IT recruitment market. I've been working on that to this day, working on strategies to develop myself personally and helping drive the business forward. 4. What Challenges Have You Faced? When I started out, I found that getting the technical elements down was a big challenge. One of the tricks with being a great consultant is understanding the market you're working in inside and out. For IT, you need to understand a great deal of technical knowledge. IT is a competitive market and sometimes you get candidates with several jobs on the table to choose from, so you have to be flexible. This is a people business, so it's important to be sympathetic and understanding, no matter what happens. 5. What Have Been Your Biggest Successes So Far? I've had two promotions in three years, which I think is a great success. It just goes to show how far you can go in recruitment if you have the drive. It's a rewarding career. I think the other successes were in securing some top clients. We now have strong relationships in place with three of the top five German companies. 6. How Do You Get To The Next Level? Putting a plan into action. I think you can spend too much time worrying and not enough time on being proactive. A plan without action is just a plan at the end of the day. For me, I want to focus on developing our relationships and working with a diverse range clients - that will be my personal growth. 7. What Would You Tell Your Younger Self? Be less critical of yourself. Do the activity and the results will follow. Just do it. Focus on what you're doing, not what everyone else is doing – you'll see better results that way. Finally, enjoy the ups and learn from the downs.

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Development drilling starts on Ichthys

4/02/2015 by

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