See Yourself in Cyber With Melody Shand: Cybersecurity Awareness Month
Published on 31th October 2022
Following the theme of ‘See Yourself in Cyber’, we’ve been marking Cybersecurity Awareness Month with a series of interviews to spotlight members of the SureCloud team. From playing professional football to meeting a future spouse, we’ve been discovering more about their journeys within cybersecurity and what they enjoy most about working in the sector. Each of our interviewees has forged a different path to joining SureCloud and becoming part of the team developing our suite of GRC and Cybersecurity Capabilities.
For our fourth and final interview, we speak to Melody Shand, one of our product analysts.
Please could you give a brief overview of your role at SureCloud?
I sit within the Product Team as the Product Owner. We work with key internal and external stakeholders to design and build GRC solutions that we can then take to market.
What was your path to working in the cybersecurity sector?
My career started on a very different path. My background is actually more science-based. I studied chemistry and previously worked for a large chemical and petrochemical company specializing in lubricants for vehicles.
It may sound like a stretch, but there are actually a lot of similarities between cybersecurity and the chemical industry. By that, I mean my previous role was very safety and security-orientated. I had to be very mindful and alert to potential dangers and take responsibility for strict processes.
This provided me with some great transferable skills and the right mindset to transition successfully into the cybersecurity sector.
I got to a point in my career where I wanted a change, and I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to join SureCloud as an Applications Analyst. I started out focusing on developing our applications for managing GRC solutions as well as cybersecurity and have since progressed to working as part of the Product Team.
What’s the best thing about working in cybersecurity?
The best thing has been how much my knowledge and general awareness of cybersecurity have developed so quickly.
Not coming from an IT or cyber-focused background meant I possibly took my own online security for granted. However, things like not using the same password for every device or application are now ingrained in my thinking.
I also feel like we develop personally alongside the products we create. We’re constantly learning new skills to support our customers’ needs, which means every day is different and presents a new kind of challenge. That’s something I particularly enjoy.
What’s your best piece of advice or insight to share for Cybersecurity Awareness Month?
The best advice I could give is not to dismiss multi-factor (or two-factor) authentication.
I meet many people who think MFA and 2FA are specifically designed for banks or work-related software, but that’s not the case. It should be something we use on all devices, for personal or work use, as it’s a crucial first line of defense.
It will contribute to your overall security posture more than you think.
Tell us an interesting fact about yourself that people may not know.
I like to challenge myself, so I recently took up Olympic weightlifting!
