Beyond Firewalls: Meet the People Behind CGM’s Cybersecurity

They’re curious, sharp, and just a tiny bit obsessed with digital safety. Together, they keep CGM’s systems secure across hundreds of applications and countless daily operations. Meet the Romanian security dream team:  

• Viorel Lupu, Team Lead & Application Security Engineer;
• Marian Teodorescu, Application Security Engineer;
• Cristian Vartolomei, IT Security Engineer.

Think of Viorel and Marian as the digital “attack team,” the ones who think like hackers so the real ones can’t break in. And Cristi? He’s the guardian, our frontline digital defender. Together, they’re security in 3D: Detect. Defend. Deliver. 

Let’s take a look behind the firewall. 

If you had asked a young Viorel Lupu what he wanted to be when he grew up, he might have mumbled something about “working with computers,” even though he didn’t have one. Growing up in Vaslui, surrounded by curious questions but lacking the actual hardware, Viorel’s early relationship with IT was built not on gadgets but on grit. “𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛’𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑃𝐶 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒,” he says, “𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐝 - 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝.” 

He moved to Iași to study Business IT and quickly found himself knee-deep in the world he’d only imagined. In 2012, he began a 6-month 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫 internship - but he and his fellow university mates blitzed through it in just two months. That success led him to a 𝐐𝐀 internship, which then transitioned into a project involving something far more thrilling: penetration testing. 

“𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒-ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑟,” ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑠. “𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑡. 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 - 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛.” 

That session became the spark that ignited a full-blown career in cybersecurity. With an insatiable appetite for learning, Viorel dove into 𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. Not long after, he was joining Red Teams, finding vulnerabilities, and thinking like the very people he was trying to outsmart. 

In 2019, he brought that drive to CGM, where he didn’t just join the cybersecurity effort - he led it. 𝐕𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐆𝐌’𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 and began what would become a marathon of securing systems: testing over 300 CGM products, designing security processes, conducting reviews and audits, and leading countless training sessions. He was, and still is, the go-to person when someone says, “𝐇𝐞𝐲, 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞?” 

𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞, Viorel works across CGM’s business units on everything related to application security. But the passion for hands-on hacking is still there. “𝐼 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑡,” he admits. “𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑤 - 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒.” 

His approach is pragmatic and philosophical. “𝐼𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑, 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 100% 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒. 𝑂𝑢𝑟 𝑗𝑜𝑏 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑟’𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒’𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑡 - 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑐ℎ. 𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒. 𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑎 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑏𝑦 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒, 𝑠𝑜 𝑤𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑏𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠.” 

When asked how he explains his job to someone outside the field, he smiles. “𝐼 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑓. 𝐼 𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑜 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡. 𝐼𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑟𝑑, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑢𝑛.” 

Outside of work, Viorel is an 𝐅𝟏 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜, 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫, 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐁𝐐 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐞. He’s toyed with the idea of opening a restaurant - until he remembers the stress of hospitality. “𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑎𝑦𝑏𝑒,” he muses. “𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦. 𝐴𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒.” 

For those dreaming of a career in security, he offers simple but powerful advice:

Some careers begin in cubicles. Marian Teodorescu’s began at 2,000 meters in the air, hurtling toward Earth with a parachute strapped to his back. 

Born and raised in Bucharest, Marian 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐚𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟏𝟒. By the time he was 18, he was already a disciplined soldier - and then came West Point. Yes, that 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐒𝐀. Out of 30 Romanian cadets, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝. “𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙,” he says. “𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑆𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑢 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑈.𝑆. 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡. 𝑊𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑃𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔.” 

While at the U.S. Military Academy, he 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, but it wasn’t all code and keyboards. He trained as a military paratrooper, jumped out of airplanes, and learned what it meant to serve. After returning to Romania, he spent 9 intense months as an 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐟𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧, coordinating 27 people, managed 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭, and worked for eight years in the 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞. He even dipped his toes into law school - before realizing he preferred networks to notaries. 

“𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑙𝑎𝑤 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒. 𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠-𝑜𝑛, 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑠 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒,” he says. So he earned 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐲𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 and decided it was time to see what civilian life had to offer. 

He took a one-year leave and found himself at a job fair where he was offered a massive challenge: secure a company with 65,000 open issues in just 18 months. Most people would panic. Marian rolled up his sleeves. 

After a series of roles in top private companies, he was recharging 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐆𝐌 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭. “𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑑.” 

What sealed the deal? “𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒,” he says. “𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒. 𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠.” 

Now working remotely from Bucharest, Marian is 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. He researches threats, plans countermeasures, guides strategy, and keeps teams aligned globally. He thrives on complexity. “𝑆𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑠 - 𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑎ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑, 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒.” 

And he has 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭. “𝑃𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑎 𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑠,” he says. “𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡. 𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠. 𝑂𝑢𝑟 𝑗𝑜𝑏 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑖𝑛 - 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡. 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑠.” 

If he weren’t in security? “𝐼’𝑑 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑑𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠. 𝑂𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑦𝑏𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒. 𝑂𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑙𝑡. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑡’𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑡 - 𝐼’𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑢𝑝 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒ℎ𝑜𝑤.” 

Outside work, Marian is 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐚 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧-𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲.

For Cristian Vartolomei, security is personal. As a child in Târgu Neamț, he watched 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 head off to work each day wearing the uniform of a local 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫. He idolized him. “𝐼’𝑑 𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑏𝑜𝑟ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑑,” he remembers. 

But while his heart leaned toward justice, his brain thrived on tech. He was 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝’𝐬 𝐠𝐨-𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐮𝐲, always fixing, tinkering, and figuring things out. So when the time came to choose a path, it was simple: 𝐜𝐲𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 offered the best of both worlds. 

He studied 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 in Iași and discovered penetration testing during his final-year internship. A job offer soon followed, promising hands-on experience and travel - but at 21, Cristi wasn’t ready to live out of a suitcase. Instead, he joined an automotive company’s internal IT and security team. It was good - but not great. 

When Viorel left his former company, Cristi stepped into the role of 𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫. But something wasn’t clicking. “𝑅𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛’𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦,” he says. “𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒. 𝑆𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒.” 

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐂𝐆𝐌. 

“𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑗𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑, 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑡. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑛𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚—𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙,” he says. But one thing made it even more meaningful: 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭. “𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑒. 𝐼 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑠𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑦𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦. 𝑊𝑒’𝑟𝑒 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑦 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚.” 

Cristi now works in CGM’s Security Operations Center, where he monitors threats, responds to incidents, manages vulnerability platforms, and implements threat intelligence. “𝑌𝑜𝑢’𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑡. 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑡. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑖𝑛. 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦. 𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒. 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒.” 

At home, he lives a double life as 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲𝐢𝐬𝐭. He drinks 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐞 like a true barista, solves 𝐑𝐮𝐛𝐢𝐤’𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐛𝐞𝐬 in under 45 seconds, plays 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐬, explores 𝐕𝐑 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, and owns 𝟏𝟓 𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬. But nothing compares to 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲. “𝑀𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑓𝑒, 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 - 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦’𝑟𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝐼 𝑑𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑑𝑜.” 

His advice?

The Romanian security team at CGM doesn’t just patch systems - 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭. They’ve seen battlefields and boardrooms, hacked systems and healed them. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. 

We’re proud of what they’ve built - and even prouder to say 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠. Next month we will welcome 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 to the Romanian team, and who knows? The next one might be you. 

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 - 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲.. 

“𝑆𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒 - 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑠𝑒𝑡. 𝐴𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦. 𝐴𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 ‘𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑓?’ 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠. 𝑊𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑤𝑒’𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑔𝑒𝑠. 𝐵𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑠, 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑡.” — Viorel, Marian & Cristi, together.