If there is one personality feature that has shaped my path, it is that I am a bit of a rebel.
As a kid, if my parents told me not to do something – “don’t climb up that water tower because that’s not what ladies do” -, if I believed that the reasons were unsound, such as presumed gender norms, then off to the water tower I went.
I have always been interested in the sciences.
Growing up, I was into biology, chemistry and earth sciences. During my high school years, I got fascinated by computers. Computer science was not yet an old field in the Philippines at the time, so I did not really face any skepticism on whether it was the right path for me.
After graduating with a degree in computer science from the University of the Philippines, my first job was already within the cyber security industry.
Upon joining Trend Micro, my first employer, there was a 5-month training period where they rigorously trained us and subsequently tested our skills: Can you code a Terminate Stay Resident (TSR) DOS program in x86 assembly? Can you spot a virus infection and return the infected file to its original configuration? Can you analyze and disinfect an infected Master Boot Record (MBR)? If you failed a certain number of exams, your traineeship would be over and you’d be jobless.
Christine Bejerasco, VP of Tactical Defense Unit at F-Secure
Perhaps it was fate because weirdly enough, assembly language – the language one needs to understand in order to understand viruses – was, for me, one of the more interesting programming languages I learned in the university, and so I successfully completed my traineeship.
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I joined F-Secure in 2008, first in Kuala Lumpur and then in 2011 was transferred to the headquarters in Helsinki. Here in Finland, I started as a service owner in F-Secure Labs (now Tactical Defense Unit); then moved to lead an R&D team that built desktop security products for two years during which I also had the opportunity to be part of the F-Secure board as a fellow in the board; and in June 2019 I moved back to Labs. I have been leading the Tactical Defense Unit (TacDef) since.
It has been an educational journey for me so far, and I’m grateful to have been given the opportunities to embark on different challenges and grow within the company.
I enjoy the company culture we have at F-Secure. There are some perceptions I have heard about the cyber security field – that we must be stuck-up bureaucrats – but you will quickly learn that is not the case. There are security measures that we definitely need to abide by, as we are handling malware and working with products that are hooked deep within a customer’s device.
“What keeps me motivated is the idea of growing teams, units or fellows and leaving them in a better place than when I found them.”
Beyond that, it’s all about what you can bring to the table. Instead of irrelevant demographic factors, at F-Secure you’re seen for your talents and learning agility; for what you are capable of and what kind of culture you can bring to the team. What keeps me motivated is the idea of growing teams, units or fellows and leaving them in a better place than when I found them.
If I were to give one piece of advice to younger generations, it would be to follow your own path. As human beings, we sometimes look to other people for approval. While that’s perfectly natural, it can be crippling and can limit your potential if you listen to too many voices and let their opinions be your guide.
I realized early in my high school years that there are just as many opinions as there are people, and it’s impossible to please them all. So I chose to care about the one opinion that I have to live with every day – my own. We are all guided by our core values, and when we stay true to those, we are more at peace with ourselves. Of course, we need to be respectful of others while we carve out our own paths. But I do believe that we are much nicer people when we let our true selves define our direction.
“If I were to give one piece of advice to younger generations, it would be to follow your own path.”
And if I were to give one piece of advice to women in the tech field, it would be to apply for that job that crossed your mind. Apply for the job that intrigues you, even if you do not meet every single qualification listed!
In my experience, when we get female applicants that make it through our interviews, we get really good ones who are capable of delivering in the roles they apply for. But the unfortunate thing is, we get so few female applicants in the first place! Ladies, don’t let your self-doubt hold you back from taking risks that are needed to move forward in your careers. I’ve also had my own share of self-doubt. But it helps to just do your best. The worst case is that you won’t get the job but you’ve learned something new from the experience and perhaps even identified a skill you may be missing that you can start working on.
All of the risks that we take and decisions that we make contribute to our growth. I also hope that in the coming years, we in the private sector and academia can bridge the gap and make the cyber security field more accessible and interesting for women.
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Christine Bejerasco, VP of Tactical Defense Unit at F-Secure
