About me

I’m Dan Popa, a Romanian Information Security professional (by day) and technical diver, dive instructor, leadership and technology enthusiast by night. Yes I do sleep too, erm… sometimes.

Information Security Pro

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The fact I’m calling it Information Security and not “the cyber” probably gives you some data points into how long I’ve been around the industry. I have been officially (aka holding a “real job”) in the industry for more than 15 years, unofficially for more than 20. But time in and of itself is almost irrelevant. Without too much false modesty (we’re not a modest group, are we) I’ve been in pretty much all security roles that exist, including blue teams, red teams and most shades of purple. In my experience red teams are more fun, but blue teams are more technically challenging if done right. That’s why I’m now more focused on the defense side of things where you need to get everything right, all the time.

I currently lead the Cloud Protection support organization at Microsoft, where we help our customers make the best use of the Microsoft Security products centered around Cloud and AI.

Did I say I look at education as a bit of a panacea? Cause I do. That’s why, along with some likeminded friends in the industry we decided to launch Purple Athenaeum - a community aimed at supporting InfoSec pros in Romania, helping people get into the industry, as well as providing a set of services to those that can’t (yet) afford to pay for them.

You’ll find more on me, my background and professional life on my LinkedIn page.

Leadership

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Education is half of the solution. Leadership in my opinion covers the other half.

I find it unbelievable (and a bit scary) how low the standards in Romania and indeed the world are around leadership. Looking to politicians for something like inspiration is almost laughable, and the corporate world, on average does little better.

Now don’t belive I think I’m perfect in that regard. Far from it. I do however, with the same lack of modesty, believe that I have some things to offer in that domain, as well as a bit of a proven track record.

I’m always happy to mentor people that want to develop in this direction (for free of course). Knowing that my time is limited however, my selection process is based on potential and impact. Feel free to reach out and book some time to chat if that’s something you’re interested in.

Technical diving, dive instructor and conservation

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I’ve always been fascinated by the underwater environment. I was about 5 when my dad gave me my first dive mask - realizing I could see underwater where there was a whole different world was mindblowing. Fast forward to about 11 years ago when I got my Open Water Diver certification came a different epiphany: first that I could breathe underwater (which is awesome) but my second thought was damn that’s a lotta plastic. I distinctly remember saying that Open Water, with a max depth of 18 meters, was all I’ll ever need. 10 years, a gazillion certifications later I found myself finishing my SDI Instructor course. Since then I’ve started Blue Pulse Diving where I teach diving in the only way I consider to be proper: no groups, one to one, with focus on creating safe and aware divers. Divers that I hope will get as much enjoyment, tranquility and… sense of actually living live as I get from it.

Technical diving is something that came in naturally, not for the thrills (there are old divers and bold divers, but not many old bold divers) but because there were things I wanted to see (mostly wrecks) that were deeper than I could go recreationally. And there still are of course. I do enjoy the technology, preparedness and math behind it too.

Aside from the obvious wish to preserve the environments we currently get to see underwater for future generations, ocean conservation has a more urgent and often overlooked goal. Most of the times, when we think about absorbing CO2, our minds naturally go to forests. But oceans acount for about the same amount of CO2 absorbtion as forests do (which is approximately 25-30% of the total). And they do that while at the same time absorbing 90% of excess heat and generating 50% of our atmospheric Oxygen. But don’t take my word for it, here are some authoritative sources on the matter, from NOAA and the United Nations.

Ocean conservation is a field I’m looking to contribute more in and I am putting my (literal) money where my mouth is. At Blue Pulse Diving I have pleged to dedicate 50% of the profits to this cause, either through direct actions or donations.