Protiviti

Marianne Barcellona

Joseph Rivela

Senior Manager, Information Security & Privacy Solutions

From Joseph Rivela’s job title, you might picture a lone computer whiz cracking codes in a basement to help protect large companies from confidential data breaches, but he says that working in security and data privacy is nothing like the movies. In reality, he works closely across all divisions of a client company to protect confidential data, and has found job satisfaction in Protiviti’s collaborative culture.

Why is privacy and security management so important?
As cyber attacks advance, companies are looking to protect their data and assets in alignment with corporate strategy, regulatory requirements, and governance programs. Preventing a data breach—or managing the fallout when one occurs—and executing a solution is a challenging yet exciting objective.

Describe a memorable moment on the job.
Our team was brought into an organization to conduct a security assessment of one of their internal web applications. With our proven testing methodology, we identified and exploited a system vulnerability, allowing us to cut a check for $1 million—but of course we didn’t keep it!

What skills are key for job success at Protiviti?
As a security and privacy consultant, you work closely with companies’ executives, so you need to have a strong understanding of technology, as well as good interpersonal and communication skills. These areas of expertise are critical to success across all of our solution offerings.

What do you enjoy most about working at Protiviti?
I have always been impressed with the diversity and backgrounds of my coworkers. Not everyone is cut from the same cloth, and the collaborative approach that we take to consulting makes Protiviti a good place to develop skills and learn to apply them.