Umar Siddiqi

About me

I was born/grew up in: Karachi, Pakistan

I now live in: Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

I completed my training/education at:  B.S. in Computer Science from SUNY Buffalo and an M.S. in Computer Science from University of Texas at Dallas

What I do at work

I work with customers to identify their cybersecurity requirements. I analyse these to come up with recommendations. Every customer has specific needs. I recommend services they should buy to meet those needs. My background and my experience allow me to ask the right questions. The answers to those questions let me propose appropriate solutions to client problems. I work with my other team members in different ways. We support each other every day. We interact by email and phone. We also use other collaboration tools used by my employer. In our daily work, we use English. My colleagues in French-speaking provinces also communicate with each other in French. Since our customers are only in Canada, we don't have to deal with many other languages.

My career path is

I knew I wanted to study computer science when I was in high school. I went to college to do a B.Sc in computer science and went on to complete M.Sc in computer science. I never thought I would end up becoming a cybersecurity specialist. My first job after my M.Sc was related to security and I kept growing from there. I love and enjoy my work every day. As a result, it has never occurred to me that I should try something different.

I am motivated by

My work directly helps organizations become more secure. This excites me and motivates me to get up and do my best work. I get to learn different ways in which cybercrimes happen and the best ways to defend against them. It's a constant learning environment! There are always new ways crooks come up with to attack. This means there are always new ways to defend as well.

How I affect peoples’ lives

I design security solutions that are then used by organizations. This helps them to be more secure, with better protection from cyberattacks. Cyberattacks can take the form of several threats. These include ransomware, credential theft, and hacking attempts. The organization can then focus on their business without worrying about security. My work affects the quality of business and increases productivity.

Outside of work I

I love exploring local parks and trails in my town. I enjoy working out (though I'm not super fit), swimming, watching movies, and spending time with my kids.

My advice to others

Start with computer science and then specialize in cyber security if you are interested in a career in this area.