My curiosity as a child helped me discover the little engineer inside of me
Christer Andersson Stål, Cyber Security Specialist, is one of AFRY's many experts
Hi, Christer! What are you specialised in?
I am a specialist in cyber security, within the areas of log collection and intrusion detection, penetration testing and security architecture. I have also worked with software development.
What did you study?
I studied civil engineering in computer science and my graduation in 2001 coincided with the burst of the IT-bubble, so partly because of this, I continued with PhD (Doctor of Technology) studies and graduated with a PhD in computer science.
Why do you think you became interested in Cyber security?
My grandfather was a patent engineer at ASEA, and I remember asking him a lot of factual questions when I was young about all kind of things, such as how many volts are carried through different kinds of power lines, and maybe that helped me discover the little engineer inside of me.
“As young I was asking my grandfather; “How many volts are carried through different kinds of power lines?”
My original plan was to study electrical engineering, but I never found this subject interesting in high school, so I changed my mind. I was quite good in mathematics and computer science, so I continued this path and it turned out being a good choice.
Did you have any idea how relevant Cyber Security would become?
It was difficult back then to foresee how ubiquitous IT would become in our society. When I started studying IT security, a common perception about IT security was that it mainly meant computer viruses. Economical motives behind hacker attacks were less common, but things have really changed since then.
What do you enjoy the most about working as a consultant?
I really like the motto freedom under responsibility, and I can work in this way at AFRY. I like my colleges and the social climate, and I have colleagues I do stuff with outside work, such as running and fishing, which is nice.
At AFRY, we live by our values Brave, Devoted and Team player. What does it mean in your everyday life with your clients?
By being “brave” you should dare to go outside your comfort zone and accept new challenges. “Devoted” would imply that you are persistent and do not give up until you have solved the problem at hand. A “team player” means that you promote a good working climate for collaboration and that you are prestige less”.
