Sandra Cavazos, Vice President of Product Security and Privacy at Comcast, highlights the winding path into her security career.

As both student and teacher, Sandra Cavazos’ security career centers education. Cavazos completed her undergraduate studies at Duke University as a triple major in Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and German. Cavazos’ technology career began in Germany, where she spent two summers working for Siemens and Bosch.

Following graduation, Cavazos began working for Intel’s Rotational Engineering Program.

“At Intel’s largest semiconductor fab, I rotated through three engineering positions during my first year as part of the program.  I landed in Product Engineering — first working on small automotive chips and within five years as the Product Engineer for the flagship microprocessor at that time — the Pentium 4. This position enabled me to grow as an engineer, learning the fine details of the 200-plus step manufacturing process at a world-class facility. My responsibilities grew considerably and, as a technologist, I knew I wanted more,” Cavazos says.

Cavazos decided to pursue a master’s in electrical engineering from Stanford, where her focus on telecommunications and network security acted as the “catalyst” for her career in cybersecurity.

“As I completed my master’s degree, I learned that Intel was assembling a team to lead cybersecurity for manufacturing computing. I understood the technologies, processes and culture within Intel’s manufacturing units and was uniquely positioned to lead programs and solve problems in that space,” Cavazos says.

For five years, Cavazos worked for Intel’s Manufacturing Computing Information Security organization. There, Cavazos led asset management, patching, data protection and a variety of other programs.

“Like many women in the workplace, I had to make a tough decision between continuing my career advancement or, in my case, investing all my time and energy in my children during their early years. It was a hard decision on many levels, but in the end, I opted to leave the workplace and spend the next seven years homeschooling my children. It was a task I took very seriously, working to create a structured, healthy and happy learning environment. Fortunately, my children thrived and when they re-entered school at grades 6 and 7, they were well-advanced of their peers in studies and able to integrate nicely into that new environment.”

Developing trusting relationships within and outside your organization is a top priority of every executive, and certainly one I focus on daily.

An educator both in and out of the workplace, Cavazos was ready to take on additional leadership responsibilities. When Cavazos returned to the workplace, she began consulting for Comcast as an Xfinity Mobile program manager. Here, Cavazos had a “front row seat” to a developing startup within a larger corporation.

After a few years, Cavazos was hired as the Business Information Security Officer (BISO) at Comcast.

“I was able to succeed within a complex matrixed organization to realize many cybersecurity firsts within the company,” Cavazos says. Her move from consulting to leading within an organization highlighted her skillset and determination to building a secure environment.

Currently, Cavazos serves as VP2 of Product Security and Privacy at Comcast.

“A typical day for me would be meeting with my team leaders on current projects/programs, helping to remove obstacles and reinforce the teams’ vision/mission. I run a critical risk task force and am frequently involved in assessing business risk to new detections in the SDL process. I am included in executive discussions on both privacy and cybersecurity, responsible as a technical expert and owner of many critical systems and processes,” Cavazos says.

A project that stands out in Cavazos’ mind is the creation of xCyberScore, a “normalized measurement system that all development teams at Comcast to use to quantify their secure development practice maturity and to discover their largest gaps”. Each team is scored between 0 and 1000, indicating proficiency in a variety of standards.

A program like this requires teamwork, with every team and department working to achieve their goals.

“A strong security team begins and ends with the people you choose to hire and invest in as an organization. Developing trusting relationships within and outside your organization is a top priority of every executive, and certainly one I focus on daily,” Cavazos says, “This starts with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. These aren’t just buzz words but rather the secret to truly strong, sustainable teams. Each day, we hold ourselves accountable to ensure we are inclusive in our daily interactions, that we provide equal opportunities across the organization, and we remain a team of diverse people and ideas.”

Cavazos also believes in strong leadership and teamwork. She wants her security teams to have all the tools they need and the skills required to utilize them.

“Discipline in following proscribed processes and using centrally-managed tools to their fullest potential is essential to our success in finding and responding to adversaries in a timely and effective manner,” Cavazos says.

To those looking to enter the security field, Cavazos has strong advice.

“Stay curious. Be a lifetime learner of all things — especially cybersecurity! Invest in yourself and in your team daily. Don’t be afraid to fail but be diligent in learning from mistakes.”