San Francisco CEO Believes It's Ideal For Students To Pursue A Technology Career
According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, data breaches in the U.S. reached a record high of 783 last year. With major companies investing millions of dollars in cybersecurity, there's no better time for San Francisco students to pursue a career in high-tech, especially information security. It's difficult to disagree with Manoj Leelanivas, CEO of Bay Area-based Cyphort, who echoed those thoughts and more in a recent interview just prior to the RSA Conference in San Francisco.
What is your background and education?
"I was born and raised in India, where I completed my undergrad at India's National Institute of Technology in computer engineering. I then moved to the U.S. and received my master's at the University of Kentucky, Lexington. I moved to Silicon Valley in 1993 and have been here ever since. I started my career at Cisco Systems where I worked for six years and then moved to Juniper Networks for 14 years before coming on as CEO to Cyphort. I have completed the Stanford Executive Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business."
Can you briefly describe the type of services Cyphort provide?
"The Cyphort Advanced Threat Defense (ATD) Platform detects and analyzes next generation threats and advanced malware. It's the first ATD solution that provides actionable, and contextual intelligence that enables security teams to respond to attacks faster and more effectively. Cyphort's product delivers critical business context that helps security teams to quickly discern what an attacker has already done and what their true intent is."
What career advice can you offer to students interested in a career in technology?
"There has never been a better time for pursuing careers in the technology space than today, especially in IT software, automation and security areas. The amazing trends of mobility, cloud computing, and big-data analytics have created the perfect storm for innovation. If you are technology inclined, this the perfect time to let your creative mind wander, seize any of the plethora of opportunities around in this new connected world, and carve out your own road or niche...You have already done most of the hard work you need to do in college. The IT world is wide open!"
Randy Yagi is a freelance writer covering all things San Francisco. In 2012, he was awarded a Media Fellowship from Stanford University. His work can be found on Examiner.com Examiner.com.