Becoming a Cybersecurity Consultant

Elena Ferrari is a full professor of Computer Science at the University of Insubria, Italy, where she leads the STRICT SociaLab. She holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of Milano. Her research spans cybersecurity, privacy, and trust, with a focus on developing technologies that enable secure and efficient data sharing without compromising privacy. She has explored diverse application domains such as social networks, relational and NoSQL databases, cloud computing, workflow management, and IoT ecosystems. Her current research includes security and privacy for Big Data and IoT, access control, machine learning for cybersecurity, risk analysis, blockchain, and secure social media. Prof. Ferrari has authored several books and over 270 publications in international journals and conferences. Among her many accolades are the 2009 IEEE Technical Achievement Award, the 2019 ACM CODASPY Research Award, and fellowships from ACM and IEEE. She has held editorial roles with IEEE Internet Computing, ACM Transactions on Data Science, and other prestigious journals, while also chairing the ACM SACMAT steering committee and serving on committees for major data management conferences. Her projects, funded by organizations like the EU Commission, Google, and IBM, address issues like social network privacy, IoT, and critical infrastructure protection. A dedicated advocate for women in cybersecurity, Prof. Ferrari was named one of the 50 most influential Italian women in tech in 2018 and has mentored numerous female PhD students.