Cyber Work: How data science and machine learning are affecting cybersecurity

Introduction

In this episode of Infosec’s Cyber Work podcast, host Chris Sienko spoke with Anu Yamunan, VP of product management and research at Exabeam. They discussed her 18-year experience path of designing and securing products as well as how data science and machine learning are used in cybersecurity.

1. How did you first get interested in computers and security?

Anu first got interested in computers and security indirectly when she opened up to math, since computers and math are intertwined. Until the sixth grade, she was scared by math, but her teacher changed her perspective on the subject. 

She saw her first computer in her junior year of high school, at which point she fell in love with computers and knew that computer science was what she wanted to study.

2. What are your daily job duties and favorite aspects of the job?

Anu leads product design, security and threat research at Exabeam. Her day-to-day can range from innovation and research about what is coming up in the cybersecurity space from a data science and machine learning perspective to enabling sales and talking to customers. She enjoys the breadth of her role and the fact that her job can differ so much from day to day.

3. What previous jobs and skills helped you springboard into your current position?

The first job Anu worked after college was as an engineer for HP, where she learned a lot. The hard part for her was transitioning from an engineer to a product manager. Being a product manager is a more macro role, where you need to understand market needs, the competitive landscape, your customers, etc. Anu dealt with this by looking for ways to go beyond what an engineer does to help out the product managers in any way possible. During (Read more...)