Today's Human of Omise is Dhawal Naik, our Security Manager. Dhawal is a cybersecurity engineer from India with passion in astronomy, camping, and cooking. One of his many strengths is curiosity and the willingness to always learn and improve.

How did Dhawal discover his passion in cybersecurity? Let’s find out together.

Cybersecurity — a journey of endless discoveries

Why security?

Curiosity! While completing my engineering degree, I was unsure whether I should proceed with programming or development. However, my curiosity about how the software works led me to learn about hacking.

Back then, ethical hacking was pretty new in India, so I decided to pick this career despite not knowing much about it yet. That's where I got interested in discovering more about hacking, how the internet works, and what happens if things break loose.

What were your sources of motivation?

I found motivation from hacking movies and books. The best one I remember is about Kevin Mitnick, from which I learned about hacking and how to adapt it for security usages. How that's done is we try to exploit or break into the application or system to identify any potential vulnerabilities in it before the bad guys do.

Away from home: settling down at Omise

What made you decide to come and work here in Bangkok?

Three days in Bangkok. I first visited Bangkok in 2016 for my previous employment. While I was here, I got connected with this place and country. People here seem to be polite and friendly. Street food's awesome. Traffic is quiet and much better than my home country's, and our cultures seem to be very similar.

I spent approximately 3-4 days in Bangkok, and during my stay, I visited Omise. Then, I decided I wanted to find an opportunity to work full-time in Thailand, but I wasn't sure how. A year later, that opportunity came, and now I'm here :)

How did you join the security team at Omise?

In 2016, I visited Omise as a security tester to perform an internal network test. After I met the company’s CIO and the team, working with Omise became my dream job.

At that time, there was no dedicated security team member here. Hence, I applied for a Security Analyst position at Omise.

What do you like about working here?

The best thing about Omise is its culture and the members' determination to improve and achieve the common goal and vision of the company.

Working with Omise is different. Here, I can continuously hone my skills and learn more about cybersecurity, then apply the knowledge to my roles as a Security Manager. Also, I'm allowed to explore new working approaches and freely present ideas, which is the most important when working in an organization.

The culture, in turn, makes employees content with their work and motivates them to put in more effort. Working with the best team members and managers has also kept me motivated to work and find ways to improve my skills day-to-day.

Curiosity is key!

To be successful in a security position, what do you think is the most important habit?

Always keep learning and be curious about how things work. To be successful in a cybersecurity position, always keep your eyes open for new technologies and possible attacks. Make sure you are up-to-date with the latest security risks and news. Also, invest your time in doing research.

The most important habit for a security person is to stop and think before making decisions. My code is CIA (Confidentiality/Integrity/Availability): they should not be broken or interrupted.

What is your definition of 'being successful'?

Some tips from me would be to

1. Always be curious
2. Be ready to learn new things
3. Be willing to take risk-based decisions
   
4. Ask questions until you are satisfied and understand clearly
5. Never fear making mistakes

Above and beyond 🪐

If you were not a Security Manager, what do you think you would be doing?

I would have liked to be a space engineer working in the astrophysics field. I was more curious about space and how small we are, considering the huge universe. I am still learning and watching documentaries online in my free time. As an Engineering student, I would have leaned toward observational astronomy, an astrophysical observation done over an electromagnetic spectrum.

What do you find interesting about Astronomy?

What's fascinating about it is how we can relate and observe things that had occurred in the past by just seeing them from a vast distance, such as different planets, solar systems, and galaxies.

Opening new doors

It’s your 5th anniversary here at Omise! How has the experience been for you?

It’s been a very quick and amazing 5 years with Omise! And with every day I was overwhelmed, happy, and thankful to be part of this amazing organization. I would like to say I am happy to be part of this helpful and cheering , supporting family I have in Omise.

What are some strengths that have kept you working here for such a long time?

The biggest strength is being able to keep learning evolving technologies. At this vastly growing company, everyday is a new opportunity, which is what I like about Omise, along with very polite colleagues and pretty awesome friends.

For those who want to apply for a position in security in Omise, why do you think this place is great to settle for a long-term career?

As a part of Omise’s Security team, I have learned it’s not about just single security domains. Here, you will be provided an opportunity to be part of a team which will acknowledge your IDEA and let you learn and achieve knowledge in all of the organization's security structure together with the best team members and friends.