Behind the Scenes with Cristina, Manager of Information Security

As a global leader in the cybersecurity space, Adobe recognizes that great cybersecurity talent can come from anywhere, and we actively seek to leverage the skills and perspectives of those who come from nontraditional backgrounds and all different walks of life.

If you’re curious about the passionate and talented security experts behind the Adobe Security team, let us take you Behind the Scenes (BTS) and introduce you to Cristina Nica. Cristina is currently a Manager of Information Security based in Romania and has been working at Adobe for more than seven years.

In this blog, we sat down with Cristina to learn more about her career journey, her role, and why she loves working at Adobe.

Tell us about your career journey and background. What initially got you interested in cybersecurity?

To say my career path was not straightforward would be an understatement. I focused on mathematics and informatics in high school with the goal of pursuing a lucrative and stable career for myself. Of course, not knowing who I was or what I truly wanted at the time, this was not my destination. Once I graduated high school, I changed my mind and decided that I was interested in linguistics. I went to a civil engineering university in Bucharest, where I studied linguistics, focusing on interpreting and translating civil engineering documentation into French and English.

I started my very first job in a nontechnical role at an antivirus company based in Romania. This was pretty much my first exposure to cybersecurity. I remember being fascinated by my colleagues who were in more technical positions, reverse engineering malware on end-users’ computers. I thought, “OK, that’s pretty cool. I want to go and do that.”

So I started learning on my own. I shadowed my peers, and I asked a lot of questions until I worked my way to their same position. After about six years, I transitioned into a role that gave me more exposure engaging with customers.

Fast-forward to now: I’m a manager of information security at Adobe where I get to exercise both my cybersecurity and business engagement skills. I truly believe every step of my career path led me to where I am today, so I have no regrets!

What do you enjoy most about your current role?

Being a manager and having the ability to build a positive team culture is the most rewarding aspect of what I do. I love being able to define my team’s values and create a positive culture for my team to feel safe, have fun, and want to come to work every day. We do lots of simple and fun things in the office. One time, I brought my balance board into the office and people had so much fun trying to not fall over!

For me, it’s not so much about closing a bunch of tickets every month, but rather it’s about supporting and empowering my team members to achieve their career goals. I feel most accomplished when I see someone on my team get promoted or earn recognition for something they worked hard for.

What is your favorite part about working at Adobe?

I’ve been at Adobe for a little over seven years now, and the reason I’ve chosen to stay for all these years is because I genuinely feel like I can be myself no matter what. The same Cristina that’s at home is also at work. I’ve had experiences in the past where I’ve felt I needed to tweak my personality to conform to the company’s norms and culture, but I never feel that way at Adobe. Everyone tends to be open-minded here. I can make mistakes and share my crazy ideas while never receiving judgment from anyone. My managers and colleagues always support me in whatever I want to do. Throughout these years, I’ve been able to create some really solid friendships and partnerships all around.

What is one piece of advice you would give to someone interested in pursuing a career in cybersecurity?

Go for it! Over the past few years, I’ve seen more and more people trying to break into cybersecurity, because it’s a rapidly growing industry. If you’re interested in going down this path, don’t shy away from leveraging the resources you have around you.

If you don’t have an educational background in cybersecurity, I would also recommend pursuing online certifications and training as a starting point. CompTIA Security+ is a certification that teaches you all the necessary foundational knowledge and skills to help you get started in an entry-level position in security. Once you have the basics down, you can always build on top of it as you progress throughout your career.

Another resource I recommend is watching videos from Professor Messer on YouTube. He’s helped me learn so many security concepts from the CompTIA Security+ chapters because he explains them very well. I usually don’t like listening to podcasts, but I could listen to him for hours. He’s awesome!

I currently mentor three women all in different stages of their career, and I’m always happy to support them in networking, giving recommendations, and providing resources I used when I first started out in cybersecurity. Make sure to network with people you want to learn from because chances are, they’re more than happy to help in any way they can.

Finally, what is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?

I’m a pretty decent boarder. I enjoy snowboarding in the winter and long boarding in the summer. I fall a lot but you can’t really learn something and progress further without being open to failing, can you?