Jenna Salvesen Manager - Advanced Security Centre at EY
J
enna Salvesen had a nonconforming
on‑the‑job learning to build a solid foundation in
journey into cybersecurity. Starting at EY
cybersecurity that enabled her to move across to the
as an Executive Assistant she is a pioneer
cybersecurity team.
in the technical world; breaking barriers, challenging prejudice and successfully
“It was during this time mapping out my transition
paving a new pathway into the Offensive Security
that I became aware of a newly-created role in
sector of Cyber, proving that with determination and
the Advanced Security Centre (ASC), the offensive
perseverance you can create a successful career in
security team, which is a sub-team within the
one of the most highly technical areas of cyber, as
cybersecurity practice specialising in red teaming and
she is now managing one of the largest teams of
penetration testing,” she recalls.
Penetration Testers in the Advanced Security Centre at EY.
“This team never had a non-penetration testing role before. It was such a rare opportunity. I knew it was
As an Executive Assistant Jenna supported two
exactly what I wanted to do, and where I wanted to be.
leaders of the cybersecurity team. “I was bright-eyed
I approached the leaders of the Sydney team to learn
and bushy-tailed and ready to learn anything that was
more about the role and express my interest.”
thrown at me. The more I began to learn about cyber, the more the fascination grew, and the more I wanted
DRIVEN BY DETERMINATION
to know. Everything from building cyber road maps to
Jenna went further than expressing her interest.
facilitating threat intelligence simulations. I couldn’t
“I was so excited and so determined to get this role,
believe I had not discovered this industry earlier. Once
I basically didn’t take no for an answer,” she recalls.
I had I knew it was something I had to be a part of,
“I knew I had the skills they needed to really do the
especially offensive security and red teaming.”
job well and had so much to contribute to make their high-performing team even better, and I wanted to
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With the full support of the cyber leader at
learn everything about the world of offensive security
EY, she dedicated herself to self-study and
from the inside out.”
W O M E N I N S E C U R I T Y M A G A Z I N E
J A N U A RY • F E B R U A RY 2023
