Claudia Bogos
Walk us through your career path in ING.
I joined ING Bank Romania in 2008, recommended by a friend whose motto has motivated me ever since: “surround yourself with people you can learn from!”
My journey began as Security Administrator and I was mainly navigating through lots of user creation and modification requests in the bank’s Retail division applications. I gradually began to learn, together with my colleagues, what Information Risk Management really means, and we started developing new policies, procedures and tools. By then I was part of a new team, whose formation coincided with the unification of Retail and Wholesale.
Today I am proud to be part of the ING Regional IRM Centre team in ING Tech Romania, an area divided into several services. I am a Business Partner for ING Bank Romania, so continuing my excellent relationship with the organization where I first learned the job I do today.
How is Life @ ING? (Especially from a learning experience point of view)
The responsibilities of a Senior IRM Officer vary a lot: from monitoring IT controls and their evaluation and reporting, to participating in local and international projects in a support function capacity. One of the roles I often find myself in is to provoke debates around areas where I identify a significant exposure to risk. The experience gained in such debates helps me coordinate the team's activity in the new pilot role of Product Owner in the department.
Since I`ve been in ING, I had the opportunity to participate in different types of large-scale projects, that usually come with some of the biggest challenges and satisfactions. One such intense experience was to be part of the first international Spot Check team. Colleagues in Amsterdam coordinated the team activities online, and after that a training was held right in the Sky Box on Bijmer Arena, the stadium home to Ajax Amsterdam. We tried to put together an activity plan and divide tasks, then each of us started working back in their own country. The final reports were presented on-site, in the countries for verification purposes.
It was a rewarding experience in many ways, I got to know colleagues in multiple ING countries, their way of working and to understand the implementation process of verified audits.
How would you explain your role as Information Security Officer to a 7-year-old?
Do you know what it's like when you want to cross a river by jumping from one big rock to another? What I do is to sit next to you and help you understand what can happen if the distance between the rocks is too big or if the water is too deep. Together we find a safe way to cross the river, step by step, stone by stone.
If you were to recommend ING to a friend, what would you say about the organization?
ING rewrites the notion of banking, always changing and innovating! It is a place filled with dedicated and talented people, full of resources and ideas, people you can always learn from. All this translates into a dynamic and flexible workplace and a company that delivers with customer needs in mind.
If you were to save the world with an app…
We are the world, the people and children who create it and help it evolve. I don't know if an application could save the world or from what it should be saved, but I think the first step is education - educating adults to be a better version of themselves and then pass that on to the next generation.
Let’s say you wrote your first SF book. What would you call it?
Mother Earth – a better, cleaner and healthier world.