Manju Mude, a leader in cybersecurity, says she has “always felt motivated by a mission.”
A few months after Apple launched its original iPhone in 2007, Mude joined Apple, where, she says as the first woman in security at the company, she helped secure such products as Siri and iMessage. After Yahoo experienced a massive data breach, she joined the company to help it recover and to investigate and track down adversaries.
Today, she is the deputy chief information security officer (CISO) at Oportun, which provides loans to “underbanked and financially underserved applicants.
“It’s a very mission-oriented company that appeals to my values,” says Mude.
Cybersecurity was not yet a topic that regularly made the news when Mude earned her master’s degree in information science at UAlbany in 2000. In fact, the master’s information science program itself was relatively new.
But in the years since, as the importance of cybersecurity grew so did Mude’s role in it.
After UAlbany, Mude went to work for the New York State comptroller’s office, which was starting a cybersecurity department. A year later came 9/11, an event that completely changed how security is viewed she says.
“If you think about where it’s gone in the last 10 years, I feel like I picked the right field.”
Mude’s security exposure and knowledge launched her career into security leadership roles at Bank of America, Splunk, Apple, Yahoo and now Oportun.
Her work in the field was recognized in 2019 when she was cited as a Woman of Impact by SC Media, a cybersecurity news platform.
On her career journey, she says, she’s learned the importance of having a purpose: “Whatever path you go down, look for a purpose. Whatever path you take, make sure you feel good about it and its impact.”
