The power of being a newcomer

After graduating with her Bachelor of Arts Double Major in English Literature and History, the last place Jacqueline Lopour expected to take her career was into the field of security.

“I went to UCLA to study English Literature in History in college, and my goal was to become a professor of English literature. I wanted to focus on Oscar Wilde in Victorian literature.” Humorously, Lopour adds, “I've definitely not done that.”

Although her journey into the field of security was unexpected, it was far from unfitting. Lopour reflects on the start of her career in security, recalling the fortuitous moment it all began.

“I would say that security found me,” she says. “I was at a career fair at UCLA, and the CIA recruiter heard my elevator pitch at another booth, and he motioned for me to come over.”

That pivotal moment began Lopour’s journey into security, landing her a role as a Multi-Disciplinary Security Analyst with the CIA. In the beginning of her career path, Lopour felt as though her educational background wouldn’t support her professional roles. However, she soon learned that was not the case.

“It felt like my background in English Literature wouldn’t be useful,” Lopour explains. “It actually ended up being quite useful.”

Lopour’s educational background taught her how to investigate characters and their motivations. It also trained her to seek historical, cultural and social contexts for every situation she examined. These skills transferred into the world of security and have served her well.

“Security is fundamentally about bad actors or adversaries,” Lopour says, “and what in their environment motivates them or provides them with the resources they need to attack whatever target they're looking at — or even how they choose their targets and how they operate.”

Lopour gained valuable experience in both the private and the public sector. She transitioned to a Political and Leadership Analyst at the CIA, then moved to the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) as a Senior Research Associate. She then moved to Google, where she rose through the ranks to Director of Trust and Safety Intel, where she remains today.

Use the power of being the new kid on the block. Use the power of being new to the field and say, ‘Why are we doing this?’

Summarizing her current role, Lopour remarks, “I kind of joke when I tell family or friends, my job is fundamentally trying to keep the internet a safer place for everybody.” She continues, stating, “As the Director of Trust & Safety Intel, I’m looking at emerging risks, whether it’s a new type of abuse or adversary activity, or whether it's some sort of geopolitical or external event.”

Lopour’s position requires foresight and proactive risk mitigation. By observing the evolution of tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs), she can warn the company about potential threats that may rise.

Lopour describes her proactive mentality, expressing, “This threat is coming down the pipeline. Let's not wait for it to land, it'd be a problem for us. Let's take proactive mitigations to prevent it.”

Throughout Lopour’s extensive career in security, she has obtained many achievements. When asked to share her greatest accomplishment, she chose to elaborate on her systems design and operational scaling.

“As I've grown in my career, I’ve become increasingly interested in systems design and operational scaling. I used to say that my forte was spinning up pilot programs in response to crises, like getting a tiger team together and figuring out how to solve the crisis in the moment,” she recounts. “But it's even harder, I think, to convert those efforts into mature, predictable operations that run effectively, efficiently and don't require sustained heroic efforts by the team. So, when I look back on what I've accomplished, it's that transition. It's converting these scrappy tiger teams into well-oiled operations that continue to deliver to this day. That is deeply, deeply satisfying.”

She elaborates on the satisfying aspect of transitioning her crisis efforts into mature operations, stating, “It impacts people on their day to day lives. It gets people out of the heroism approach and into something where they can step back and think strategically, which I think is incredibly good for people's lives and their careers. It’s good for the company. It’s good for the world.”

Looking back on her remarkable career journey thus far, Lopour offers the following advice to budding security professionals.

“The power of being a newbie is incredible. Don’t worry about asking questions, because chances are if you’re asking a question because something is not clear, 15 other people have the same question,” she says. “Use the power of being the new kid on the block. Use the power of being new to the field and say, ‘Why are we doing this?’”

Lopour elaborates on the “power of being a newbie,” asserting that asking clarifying questions is a gift to the entire team. “When people ask these questions, the team will articulate their reasoning. They will refine the story, refine the approach and identify gaps.”

To Lopour, no academic background or career path can exclude a person from the security field. She declares, “A lot of people think that there's certain academic backgrounds or certain career paths you have to take to start a career in security. I have not found that to be the case in my career. And as long as folks stay open and are willing to take risks, I think they can have an incredibly rewarding career.”