We had an opportunity to interact with Mrs. Shobha Rani J, CISSP, Engineering Manager, WallmartLabs India. Being a Security Evangelist she was also the moderator for the Winja CXO Panel and CTF @Nullcon 2017 (events sponsored by WallmartLabs). It was our pleasure to interact with her and I bring you some excerpts from our candid conversation.
- Describe yourself in one sentence
Enthusiastic, look for perfection in everything I do.
- What are your views on Women involved in information security? You being a leader yourself, how do you see the face of information security changing when women lead in this area?
For me it should not matter if the person involved in information security is woman or man. Having said that I see less women in IT technical field and among them the percentage is even lesser for security domain. All the women I have met till this date in security field are exceptionally passionate and involved in their work. As a leader, I see that when there are passionate women in any team, the phase of execution increases, quality improves and achievements on the target within the team is more than that was initially planned.
- Who was and is your current inspiration in the field of Information Security?
I have had the opportunity to work with great leaders in the past. Blessed to work with leaders having great vision for organization now. I’ll have quite a few names to call out, so leave it open for now 🙂
- Could you brief us about your initiatives at educating children and youth about information security?
It’s just a start and I look forward for security professionals joining hands in this journey. I visit nearby schools and colleges to talk on security awareness topics on weekends. I believe that to have better ‘security aware world’, our young generation needs to be aware of risks and take precaution using smart devices and web.
- How was your overall experience at Winja and Nullcon 2017?
Great to see increased participation by women at Winja and overall increase in women security professionals attending conference. It is important for women to attend such security conferences as it gives them the opportunity to gain more knowledge on various advanced security topics and build a network.
Mrs. Shobha Rani J with the participants and winners of Winja CTF @Nullcon 2017
- What is your take on students attending/participating in security conferences?
It is a platform for the students to get an easy exposure to industry focus areas. The opportunity to attend and meet professionals was nil or limited, 20 years back. Students should take advantage of such opportunities available now. The conference organizers should also promote students participation by reaching out to more colleges and spread the message for increased participation from educational institutions.
- When you are not researching in information security, what do you do?
Spend time with family, take care of organic garden and music.
- Rapid Fire:
Your favourite place in Bengaluru: My garden.
Your favourite musician: M. S. Subbulakshmi
Your favourite books: Mankuthimmana Kagga ( Kannada book from Dr. D V Gundappa – first book my dad got me, Computer Networks By Andrew S. Tanenbaum, Applied Cryptography by Bruce Schneier
A must visit website for tech geeks: Slashdot
Would you like to visit SCIT? Yes
