Avast’s new CISO opens up about the mission that drives her, responding to threats and swimming with sharks
Jaya Baloo, a 20-year veteran in the field of information security, joined Avast last month as its chief information security officer (CISO). She most recently worked as CISO of KPN, the largest telecommunications carrier in the Netherlands. She has been formally recognized on the list of the top 100 CISOs globally and ranks among the top 100 security influencers worldwide. The Avast Blog spoke with her for this Q&A interview.
Avast Blog: What does the CISO of a cybersecurity company do?
Jaya Baloo: Remind staff how important best practices are and coach them to stay on top of passwords, VPN use, and secure networks best practices. Security should be in the DNA of everyone who works in our industry. In another type of company, a CISO might need to explain why they ask employees to take certain precautions. That said, In the cybersecurity business, we don’t just have to worry about our own company, we have to worry about our role in all of our customers’ companies, as well. There’s plenty of work to do there. The fact is, we security companies have very attractive attack surfaces for criminals to target.
AB: Does watching out for other companies mean you can sort of be the CISO our customers might wish they could have for their company or even to help keep their home secure?
JB: I hope so. The fact is, the tech industry has not made it easy for people to get their security in order. Security has been an afterthought, after a product is built. ..
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