Krystal Arbery
Cybersecurity expert
Threat Defence Operations Manager at Urenco
Protecting global companies from digital threats
Krystal Arbery is Threat Defence Operations Manager at Urenco, an international supplier of fuel cycle products for the nuclear power industry.
Building resilience through unconventional beginnings
I haven’t followed a typical route into security. I come from a single parent family, my mother grew up on a council estate and through her hard work and perseverance, I was fortunate enough to grow up on The Crown Estate in Windsor on our family’s equestrian livery yard (I’m also a very good horse livery yard manager). My mother wanted more for me – to learn, to travel, to see the world. She didn’t have the opportunity to gain a formal education, but she wanted me to have one so the importance of education was embedded in me from the beginning. She used to say: ‘Education is knowledge, and knowledge is power’.
I was the first person in my family to get A Levels and go on to study abroad. My proudest moment has to be getting my master’s degree. For my mum, my grandma and my great grandma, it was a big thing. I credit my mum with where I am because I was so fortunate to have a mother who gave me the opportunities to succeed. I’m very grateful for that.
My background has enabled me to be resilient. But it’s also enabled me to know I can succeed. The ceiling is as low or as high as you set it. I really believe that you can become whatever you want.
From Olympic dreams to academia: career redirection
When I was younger, I was a rower. My plan was to do my undergraduate degree and compete at the Olympics. From rowing, I earned a full- scholarship to the University of Minnesota in the US, studying International Relations and was fortunate enough to travel and compete across the US, but a back injury ended that dream. I couldn’t compete professionally or even row again. I was forced to reassess what I wanted to do.
I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Life will close doors, but it will also give you opportunities, and it’s up to us to take them. I always try to adopt a positive mindset!
I’ve always been very interested in history, in culture, in language and conflict so I decided to study. French was the first foreign language I learned and during my undergraduate degree in International Relations in the US, I spent time studying abroad in the Netherlands where I learned some Dutch. After that, I studied Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution in Serbia, Bosnia and Kosovo before returning to the UK to complete my US and UK accredited undergraduate degree and then a master’s degree in intelligence and security at Brunel University. I’ve also picked up a few more languages over the years.
I really loved learning about different cultures, history and conflicts, and how that all affected modern day geopolitics. I knew I wanted to work in the security industry, but my way in was non-conventional, from the academic side.
Being at the right place at the right time
Throughout my career I have been afforded the opportunity to position myself to be in the right place at the right time with some great people and great opportunities.
I started out working in background screening investigations, intelligence analysis, security operations, and then as a regional security adviser for Microsoft. I also worked in the food and beverage industry for a year for AB InBev, the parent company of brands such as Budweiser and Corona.
But probably the most pivotal point in my career so far was with Amazon Web Services (AWS). They hired me to build their data centre operations in Spain from the ground up, see through the design and build stages and establish AWS in the region.
At Microsoft, I’d been focused on physical security, but at AWS, it was everything. And it was an amazing eye-opener from the technology side.
After a couple of years in Spain, I moved back to the UK to manage the AWS UK data centre operations, and run my team there before the opportunity came to move to Urenco. It is the perfect fit for me, allowing me to combine my twin passions of technology and learning.
Working at the heart of cybersecurity
As Threat Defence Operations Manager at Urenco, I’m fully dedicated to cybersecurity. In our industry, threats centre on ransomware, social engineering, vulnerabilities in the supply chain and being targeted by nation-state actors. These are often sophisticated ways of gaining sensitive information from you, or to make you do something; like click a link that is malicious to capture your credentials or installing malware onto your device.
I manage our Threat Defence vendors and bring an information security perspective to information technology. I work very closely with multiple stakeholders across our business as well as our external partners. As an operations manager, I always say you will find me behind the scenes, making sure everything’s working as it ought to.
The nuclear industry has always been something I’ve followed. It’s a really exciting industry, in terms of providing reliable, low-carbon electricity. It has a global impact and I get to work with a lot of different people and a lot of different technologies in order to protect what we do at Urenco. I’m extremely passionate about the future of nuclear energy, the people who’ll be part of it and the tech we’ll be developing, so it’s amazing to play a part in this at Urenco.
The power of diversity and mentorship in STEM
I’m always very conscious that I have been able to get where I am because I’ve had some fantastic mentors who have given me the chance to develop. I remember one particular person from Microsoft who was brilliant, and I moved into operations through his mentorship.
At Urenco, our chief information officer Sarah Leteney is my current mentor. I actually sought out Sarah because I wanted to enhance my learning in the technology field. I’d seen how she managed a lot of things and I thought, ‘this leader is amazing, this is a great approach, I can learn from this person’.
I’m also very keen to bring people along with me, to help develop them and open doors. There is already a wealth of knowledge and many talented people in science, so I think for anyone who’s looking to move into STEM or is already working in STEM, mentorship is crucial. It is important to be proactive; if you don’t put yourself out there and ask you’ll never get.
Advice for aspiring professionals
But perhaps the most important piece of advice I’d offer is this: if you enjoy something, go for it; you are far more likely to succeed at something you enjoy and make a fulfilling career out of it. There are so many ways to enter the STEM community now. If you focus on what you enjoy, I think you’re always going to succeed. And I think having a diverse or unconventional background can actually be helpful, offering resilience, empathy and fresh perspectives.
So, don’t ever let anybody tell you you’re not good enough or capable enough. I think people are far more capable than they often believe.