Favorite Parts Of Being A Head Of Cybersecurity And Engineering At Commercial Insurance Company
Malia, Head of Cybersecurity & Engineering, thrives on the "full autonomy" her current role provides, allowing her to build a security program from the ground up, leaving a lasting legacy—"my legacy will remain here at the company"—unlike previous roles requiring rebuilding existing systems. This creative freedom, coupled with the "crazy and chaotic" nature of the work, allows for significant impact and continuous learning, a pattern evident throughout Malia's career at companies like Hulu and Disney.
Leadership, Cybersecurity, Software Engineering, Creative Problem-Solving, Legacy Building
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Malia Mason
Head of Cybersecurity & Engineering
Commercial Insurance Company
University of Pittsburgh class of 2011
EMBA UCLA class of 2023
International Relations & Affairs
Insurance
Product / Service / Software Development and Management
Disabled, Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School, Veteran, LGBTQ, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. Malia enjoys the autonomy of designing a security program from scratch, shaping its structure, implementation, and team collaboration, which is a unique opportunity not always available in established environments.
2. She highlights the lasting impact of her work, emphasizing the satisfaction of building foundational security programs (like vulnerability management at Disney Streaming) that continue to benefit companies long after her departure.
3. Malia embraces the challenging and chaotic nature of her role, viewing it as a learning opportunity and a chance to make a significant impact, showcasing a proactive and resilient approach to problem-solving.
Transcript
What do you enjoy most about your current role?
I love having full autonomy. I get to design it from scratch since no one came before me. I don't have to redesign, rebuild, or tear anything down. I get to decide what it looks like, which is really cool.
I also get to be really creative and decide how it will be installed, implemented, and deployed. I get to choose who will work with me, and I really like that.
I've had other roles where I've come in and thought, "Oh, this is a mess. Who put this together?" I had to tear everything out and rebuild it from the ground up. Here, it's just a blank slate.
I get to choose the tools I want and who I'll work with. I get to choose how it's implemented. Often, I don't get that opportunity because I come into an existing environment where things are already set up. I have to figure out how to force a tool I dislike into my program and make it work.
In this role, I get to be really creative. At the end of the day, once I've finished building this program, my legacy will remain here at the company. People will say, "Malia built the security program and all the security controls at Quarters Insurance." That's pretty cool.
I can say the same about my time at Hulu and Disney Streaming. I built the entire vulnerability management program for all of Disney Streaming, as well as parts of their bug bounty and cloud security programs. The fundamentals of vulnerability management were my creation, and they still exist today. All the infrastructure and everything I built still remains. That's part of my legacy at these companies, and that's pretty cool.
I like having that aspect where I'm making an impact. Some of my former coworkers from many years ago still text me, saying, "Hey, I found one of your documents from 2018. We're still using it! Thanks again, it was great working with you." It's cool seeing that it's still lasting.
This allows me to have a bigger impact than just being a cog in the machine. That's what I really like. But the start of it also means it's really crazy and kind of chaotic, but I like that. I joke that I'm the queen of chaos, so I love being in that crazy role.
You learn a lot too, often through trial by fire. But that's fun. I like it.