By Kris Tanaka
SecureWorld Media
"I never, ever, ever wanted to be in computers," said Christine Vanderpool, CISO for Molson Coors. "I actually despised computers as a child."
In fact, it was the last thing she wanted to do with her life. "But life always takes you for those unexpected surprises," she said.
When Vanderpool was a senior at the University of New Mexico, she got an internship opportunity with Honeywell. At the time, they were implementing SAP for the very first time. "Being an intern, you are sort of asked to do whatever they need you to do," she said. "So they gave me a computer and they gave me a book on SAP and they told me to learn it."
A huge challenge? Yes. But Vanderpool did her best and eventually went thorugh a full-scale implementation while she was still a senior in college.
What happened next? Listen to this SecureWorld CyberCHAT clip as Robb Reck, CISO at Ping Identity, speaks with Vanderpool on how she got started in the cybersecurity industry.
Reck and Vanderpool also address the question, "Should CISOs come from the business side and take over security or should they come up from the technical side and learn the business?"
What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comment space below.
