Episode 3

Les Correia, Global Head of Application Security at The Estée Lauder Companies – Powerful Intriguing Force!

Published on: 2nd September, 2021

Les Correia, Global Head of Application Security at The Estée Lauder Companies – Powerful Intriguing Force! 

This week we welcome the worldly Les Correia, who is the Global Head of Application Security at The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. In a previous life he held Senior/Advisory roles providing thought leadership at AT&T, Lucent, INS (now BT Professional services) and many other organizations in the US, Canada, Qatar, Germany, Brazil, and India. During his spare time, he enjoys flying aircraft and exploring New York museums and art galleries. Recently he also contributed to the Purple Book Community led by our friends at ArmorCode. Hear more about why he holds 14+ certifications and his globetrotting experiences.   

Connect with Les:

Highlights:

00:00 - Intros & Application Security

  • AppSec is much more than "just development"
  • Consider the points of connections, or "point boundaries"
  • The hardest component is People and the importance of EQ

7:03 - Cybersecurity Sensationalism

  • Watching out for "Hollywood" version vs. reality
  • Hackathons and Ideation
  • Looking at the bigger, holistic story
  • Importance of understanding business in security

12:26 - Les' Career Path and Journey

  • Les doing his "own thing" on learning
  • How being intellectually curious propelled his path
  • Practice what you are thinking and learn from those that came before you
  • Piquing curiosity with culture in international travels and benefits of immersion
  • Enjoy people!

22:03 - Soft Skills and Embracing People & Cultures

  • Taking the time for discipline to LEARN
  • How EQ, empathy and culture mix

26:08 - Definition of Qualifications - To Cert or Not To Cert?

  • Why Les has so many certifications
  • Having diverse backgrounds in search for skills and talent
  • The value of thinking outside the box and thinking differently

30:05 - Les Outside the "Office"

  • The need for speed!
  • The cool folks in the Arts and the way creative people think
  • Staycations rule
  • Keeping the curious mind curious
  • Go Explore!

37:14 - The Purple Book

  • The thinking and people who piqued Les' interests for involvement
  • Democratizing the concept of software and security in a conversation
  • Shout out ArmorCode!

Final Thoughts with Les:

  • Stay in touch with people you connect with and appreciate the value of the community we are in
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About the Podcast

The CISO Diaries
The path to cybersecurity leadership is not a direct route and it's those divergent routes that create the amazing stories and histories of leaders who are driving security to keep businesses and people safe.

We’re Leah McLean and Syya Yasotornrat and we intend to give CISOs and cybersecurity professionals a place to be their authentic selves. These are the unedited stories told of how they got into cybersecurity, the real struggles they’ve persevered through, personal anecdotes that make them tick, and leadership advice based on experiences.

We aren't the kind of cybersecurity podcasts that focuses on the technologies, or recent incidents. We are the podcast that focuses on the people behind the headlines and the incredible diversity of experiences and backgrounds. (And it's not lost on us that we're two awesome female hosts)!

Let's face it: we are a cybersecurity tribe and we need all hands on deck!

We hope you enjoy our CISO diary entries.

After all, we're only human, right?

Special thanks to our sponsor, Cyber Future Foundation, a non-profit global cybersecurity executive leadership community, where leaders, thinkers, and futurists discuss and develop actionable guidance and frameworks for a trusted and safer world.

About your hosts

Syya Yasotornrat

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Syya is a tenured tech sales professional with her time at SonicWALL and Hewlett Packard (HPE) with some hospitality at the Walt Disney Company and IT recruitment experience in the mix. She is currently a podcast strategist and consultant, helping others to bring out their voice and legacy through podcasting. She loves to learn and talk about anything, so feel free to reach out!

Leah McLean

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Leah is Vice President, Cybersecurity Specialist at Mastercard. She is focused on implementing strategy and programs to evolve cybersecurity risk management approaches and cybersecurity awareness and training. She actively contributes in community working groups to advance cybersecurity risk management and third-party risk. Leah is also a mentor to candidates breaking into cybersecurity careers, and collaborates with employers to rethink their workforce and hiring strategies.
Leah is a co-founder at Whole Cyber Human Initiative, a non-profit focused on redefining how we identify, train, equip, advance knowledge, and build workforce development within IT and Cybersecurity. She also volunteers for Cyber Future Foundation, a non-profit driving workforce development initiatives and private and public sector collaboration.
Previously Leah held senior level roles as a cybersecurity practitioner at Armor, a cloud security company protecting data for SMB and mid-market customers, Apstra (acquired by Juniper Networks), A10 Networks and Cisco Systems. Leah serves on the Board of Advisors for Cloud Defense, Inc., a breach visibility cloud security startup and is on the board for the Cloud Security Alliance North Texas Chapter.
Leah holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, with an emphasis in International Relations from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is an active outdoor junkie always chasing adventure.