Women in the Duke CISO Executive Certificate: Laryssa Parker on what makes a great cybersecurity professional

“When you take accountability for failure and spend every day working to be 1% better, you can trust yourself and your organization and perpetually move forward and become the best and safest version of yourself.”

Laryssa Parker is not only a cybersecurity professional. She is a transformational leader and a talented writer on cybersecurity culture and cyber innovation. Mrs. Parker is also an executive learner in the Duke CISO Executive Certificate, which she chose after researching online for top academic certificate programs in cybersecurity.

“I searched for many programs, but for instance, one of the MIT programs is outsourced to a third party, and I wanted to have an in-person piece of the program mixed with continuing online education,” she said. She enjoyed the on-campus week because it allowed her to “meet people – one of the most important things to create a strong network.” “I also love the online modules as a time to practice what you are learning and provide the white space to consider how they apply to your role,” Laryssa Parker said.

Laryssa Parker is the Chief Orchestrator of Enterprise Cloud Strategy for Parsons Infrastructure North America. In her role, she is charged with transforming cloud and innovation technology strategies into actionable plans that have a significant impact on the Parson Corporation. Laryssa’s experience in many tech industries and transportation helped her drive digital transformations for several organizations.

Before joining Parsons Corp., Ms. Parker was Director of Competitive Intelligence for Siemens Digital Industries, and before that, she served as VP for IoT Platform. An important role in her training on the job had her more than a decade of experience at Siemens as an intern, software engineer, product engineer, and strategy and market research manager.

“I was raised at Siemens, at least in my professional life. I started as an intern, taking extra hours in yoga pants and hoodies between classes. Then I landed my first job doing new product introduction in medical devices. I sat right next to the manufacturing window where, every day, I would watch people assemble devices that would soon change their’ lives. I was in awe that one small piece of technology could impact others’ lives. I knew I wanted to keep that feeling moving forward, professionally and personally.” She writes in a blog post for Siemens – How non-judgmental flexibility allowed me to grow my career at Siemens. She writes about the importance of an organization fostering a professional growth culture and a positive mindset.

I asked Laryssa what helped her become who she is today. “If you want to be great, surround yourself with those greater than you,” she said. She chose to mentor individuals in the organization, and looking back, I see that the opportunity to mentor others played a key role in her growth.  “I took on my first mentor only one or two years into my career – I think watching my skills grow from being someone’s onboarding buddy to now helping drive individuals into top-tier subject matter experts or leadership roles has been incredibly rewarding and helpful in keeping my skills up myself and keep growing. “

She wishes she had known when she started that a successful career in computer science and cybersecurity does not involve everyday coding, does not require perfection, and does not require being a man.  As one of the very few women in her field, she struggled with impostor syndrome and needed to overcome isolation: “I thought that if I’m not the best. I thought that the career might not be for me because I didn’t want to spend every night learning new coding techniques. Being one of three females in the program and not having many colleagues to work through problems with or ask for support was isolating,” Ms. Parker added.

Laryssa Parker is committed to driving innovation at Parson Corporation through the art of customer-centric sales, which is also the title of a blog article she published. This was an important reason for coming to Duke for the CISO Executive Education program. “You need to really understand the domain very well to transform it,” she said.

Ms. Parker thinks that among the most important skills that a cyber professional must have, the continuous improvement mindset and the ability to take accountability are at the top: “When you take accountability for failure and spend every day working to be 1% better, you can trust yourself and your organization and perpetually move forward and become the best and safest version of yourself.” Not surprisingly, her favorite session during the in-person Duke CISO certificate week was “Individual Liability for Cybersecurity Incidents,” taught by Shane Stansbury, Robinson Everett Distinguished Fellow in the Center for Law, Ethics, and National Security at the Duke Law School. “He presented important case studies to consider when handling difficult situations – especially as they relate to board communication,” she explained.

Ms. Parker said that one of the key lessons the CISO program taught her was that “diversity brings great perspectives and creates a holistic understanding. “I enjoyed watching my colleagues from other roles and countries point out things I had never considered!” Laryssa Parker explained. A second lesson learned on the Duke campus was about bias: “The stronger your views are on a topic, the more you should consider the other side. For instance, we did a roleplay of hack-backs. I stood firmly on the side of the company, not hacking back. Still, through deep conversation, several others shared the perspective of when it could be appropriate for a company to pursue the law enforcement agencies to hack back.”