# Student Profile

**Source**: https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/michelle-torres/
**Parent**: https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/admissions/student-spotlight/

## Michelle Torres

Senior Director, Physical Security Systems
, NBC Universal

Veteran: US Army

Class of 2019

*“The course emphasizes the message that we convey through our cyber teams that we cannot do this alone.”*

The road to the MS CRS program for Michelle Torres began in 2016, when she participated in a 2016 NYU Women in Cyber conference.

A 27-year veteran at NBCUniversal’s IT team – she started as a college summer intern – Michelle is always seeking to learn more about her field and find new solutions in an industry that’s suffered its share of malicious cyber hacks. At the conference she picked up a hint that the MS CRS program was in the works and subsequently stayed on the case. She’s glad she did.\
“I feel that I have gained all this new knowledge,” she says. “It helps me when it comes to incorporating new designs when I’m seeking new solutions and implementing them.”

Michelle’s brief as NBCUniversal’s director of information security includes planning and executing strategic IT solutions for the global security organization at the entertainment giant, a subsidiary of Comcast Corp. She is also responsible for managing change management and day-to-day operations of the company’s global security systems.

The media and entertainment industry was severely shaken in 2014 when Sony Pictures was hacked by an overseas-based group. After that, says Michelle, “there was a dramatic increase in cybersecurity-related tools and services, and an equally dramatic increase in resources to combat cyber-attacks.”

## Challenges in Protecting Content

“Some of our biggest challenges involve protecting our content.  We have so many flavors of content.  There’s new content,containing productions that are in progress, sometimes in the early-concept stage. Then you have existing content – current on-air shows or movies. And finally, archived content, which is no longer on the air but can used for syndication.”\
Third-party vendors present further challenges. “We are always seeking new revenue streams and sometimes may work with small mom-and-pop companies that don’t have all of the tools and processes in place to protect content and who should have access to it.”

Through the MS CRS program, Michelle has gained a better understanding of the legal ramifications of the mishandling of data – whether that data is the company’s own content or belongs to its consumers and customers. “Either way, it can be detrimental to the company,” she says, “and the course emphasizes the message that we convey through our cyber teams that we cannot do this alone. All employees must contribute to safeguarding the content that we let others have and share.”

That lesson recalls to Michelle the discipline she learned in her eight years in the US Army reserves and never forgot. “The military taught me that inattentiveness or being careless with details could have very grave consequences. In cybersecurity, there are no cutting corners.”

**NYU Law School participates in the Yellow Ribbon program, contributing the maximum amount in benefits to be matched by the Veterans Administration for eligible veterans.**

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### Student List

#### Technology

- [Andrea AzzolinaTeraWulf](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/andrea-azzolina/)
- [Radhika BajpaiRussell Investments](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/radhika-bajpai/)
- [Ni'Ko BostonStealth Mode](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/niko-boston/)
- [Hong Hua ChinDatadog](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/hong-hua-chin/)
- [Chris FarrStrider Technologies](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/chris-farr/)
- [Melanie GerstenMastercard](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/melanie-gersten/)
- [Colin JenkelAmazon](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/colin-jenkel/)
- [Kavitha MariappanRubrik](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/kavitha-mariappan/)
- [Bethany MayerFormer CEO: Ixia (Acquired by Keysight Technologies); Independent Board Director: Box, Lam Research, Marvell Semiconductor, Sempra Energy](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/bethany-mayer/)
- [Sangeetha NatarajanJuume AI](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/sangeetha-natarajan/)
- [Tim NelsonMeta](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/tim-nelson/)
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- [Ana PinczukSentinelOne](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/ana-pinczuk/)
- [Lauren PullyDemocratic National Committee (DNC)](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/lauren-pully/)
- [Aaron SawchukBlackberry](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/aaron-sawchuk/)
- [Erica SwainsonSalesforce](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/erica-swainson/)
- [Lawrence TanTelenor Group](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/lawrence-tan/)
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#### Government, Public Service, & Non-Profit

- [Michael FitzpatrickCity of New York](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/michael-fitzpatrick/)
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- [Jacob HelbergUnited States](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/jacob-helberg/)
- [Khalil JacksonFederal Reserve Bank of New York](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/khalil-jackson/)
- [Pouya LavianU.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/pouya-lavian/)
- [Rico LucentiFormer Senior Cybersecurity Manager, U.S. Navy](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/rico-lucenti/)
- [Jessica Yoo PerryGrid Deployment Office (GDO), U.S. Department of Energy](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/jessica-perry/)
- [William TimmonsUS Congressman](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/william-timmons/)

#### Financial Services

- [Stephanie BrodyGoldman Sachs](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/stephanie-brody/)
- [Ricky DavisSynchrony Financial](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/ricky-davis/)
- [Young HongS2 Analytical Solutions](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/young-hong/)
- [Kelly KeiterBank of America](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/kelly-keiter/)
- [Brian KennyBNY](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/brian-kenny/)
- [Michael MattioliCitadel](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/michael-mattioli/)
- [Ebony SmithBNY](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/ebony-smith/)
- [James WilkinsonMitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG Bank)](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/james-wilkinson/)

#### Military, Intelligence, & Law Enforcment

- [Tenoch AguilarFBI](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/tenoch-aguilar/)
- [Jarrod LynnHarbor Sentinel](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/jarrod-lynn/)
- [Jessica MooreNaval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS)](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/jessica-moore/)

#### Communications, Entertainment, & Media

- [Mark FolloSpotify](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/mark-follo/)
- [Jason ReichThe New York Times](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/jason-reich/)
- [Michelle TorresNBC Universal](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/michelle-torres/)

#### Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals

- [Cheryl Allen-RicciardiThermo Fischer Scientific](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/cheryl-allen-ricciardi/)
- [CJ DoloresGoogle](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/cj-dolores/)

#### Aerospace, Defense, & Security

- [Tyler CooperMerlin Labs](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/tyler-cooper/)
- [Patrick WallenhorstBinary Defense](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/patrick-wallenhorst/)

#### Professional Services

- [Courtney AdanteTeneo Risk Advisory](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/courtney-adante/)
- [Barry BrunsmanKPMG](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/barry-brunsman/)

#### Retail & Consumer

- [Andrew BozarthWalmart](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/andrew-bozarth/)

#### Education, Research, & Think Tanks

- [Bindu ChibQueen Mary University of London](https://cybersecurity-strategy-masters.nyu.edu/student-spotlight/bindu-chib/)