Chara Vassiliadou

CEO @ Charizma

Let's Give Cybersecurity a Good name

While I may be known for a commercial person, I assure you that I actually know how the digital locks work. I have a Master's degree in Information & Communication Systems Security, where I deep-dived into the arts of network security, cryptography & risk management.

Before I was racking up sales at CENSUS, I was rolling up my sleeves as an Information Security Specialist at Space Hellas, being responsible for driving the InfoSec product strategy. I provided pre-sales technical support and offered IT security consulting services to clients. I also conducted audits and developed the necessary security policies. My earlier stint as an InfoSec Officer at Lamprakis Press was all about developing a cross-departments cyber security strategy and handling tasks, like maintaining the company's security policy, conducting security audits and monitoring regulations and industry standards.

Just to round things out, I have a degree in Information & Communication Systems Engineering with a thesis on "Digital watermarking". I guess that makes me the rare bird who can talk P&L and protocol stacks without mixing them up!

All Sessions by Chara Vassiliadou

10:40 - 11:25

Keynote: Speak Human: the Unchecked Box on our Go-Live Checklist

Auditorium

THEME: CYBERSECURITY

This highly interactive two-part presentation tackles crucial communication gaps in cybersecurity engineering. The first half analyzes the problem, defining two major communication silos:

1. The Business/User Gap:Engineers struggling to communicate value to non-technical stakeholders (Sales, Clients).
2. The Specialization Gap: Engineers from different deep technical fields (e.g., hardware vs. software security) failing to communicate effectively.

This analysis shows how poor communication hinders engineer growth and obscures business value.

The second half is a practical Interactive Workshop featuring three role-playing scenarios to bridge these gaps:
1. Client Simulation: Convincing a customer of a disruptive technical fix without jargon.
2. Sales Simulation: Persuading a sales lead to halt a launch by translating risk into financial loss/reputational damage, and professional challenges.
3. Internal Simulation:Forcing a Hardware Engineer and Software Engineer to collaborate on a complex threat and solution.

The session concludes with the audience co-creating a final list of best practices based on the role-playing insights.

TAGS: cybersecurity, communication, soft skills, development teams, teams