Name: Massimiliano Graziani

Title: CEO

Oranisation: CYBERA Srl

Master Consultant in the following activities

- Security Assessment

- Incident Handling

- Digital Forensics (DEFR Manager & DES of ISO27037)

- Fraud Management (prevention, investigation, accountability)

- Vulnerability Assessment

- Penetration Test

- Cyber Investigation & Warfare

- OSINT also in the darkweb

My work is my passion, every person who has worked with me has grown and made ​me grow.

Each project simple or difficult was engaged always with the conviction of the objective, looking for the most effective solution with humility, learning to listen others and making team, each cohesive team is always winning.

After over 20 years of work the market ask to have some professional certifications, at today I joined:

EC-Council Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI)

EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)

IICFIP Certified Forensic Investigation Professional (CFIP)

ACFE Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)

IISFA Certified Information Forensics Investigator (CIFI)

ISECOM Osstmm Professional Security Analyst (OPSA)

AccessData Certified Examiner (ACE)

IICFIP Certified Digital Forensics Professional (CDFP)

Bsi Lead Auditor BS7799-2:2002 (ISO 27001:2013)

Tenable Certified Nessus User (TCNU)

I have also many years of experience using professional hardware and software equipment for capturing and analyze digital evidence as Logicube Forensic Falcon and all others since MD5, Guidance Tableau (all), CRU WiebeTech (all), Mediaclone Superimager Field, Cellebrite UFED and software as AccessData FTK, XWays Forensics, Encase and many others. My experience has allowed me to become a teacher in many universities and law enforcement departments.

Founder member of ONIF, IISFA and OWASP Italian Chapter.

Pasts:

Head of the Digital Forensics LAB of Akhela

Implementation of SIEM guidelines of the Central Bank of Lebanon

Operative Course Teacher: Computer Forensics and Logicube Dossier at the School of Tax Police

Technical Consultant at the Public Prosecutor's Office

Antivirus Researcher since 1992, first in Italy to perform a comparative test on the antivirus.

NCO career Air Force since 1989

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

I hope Massimiliano's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as a leader?

The most challenging part is still creating a culture of well-being for the employee you have trained, in recent years many of my clients have asked me to train groups of young ethical hackers for cyber security activities, but the mistake that everyone has always made , rather than capitalize on the investment made in employees, they let them go to competitors. I always try but the managers for whom I have worked have difficulty understanding that the employee you have trained becomes an important asset of company value and instead of creating a culture of well-being, they always treat people as numbers without creating a growth path long time, or assign a Team Leader to the groups to keep them together. Despite the recommendations made at the beginning of the work, almost all the people trained then went to work for competitors who treated them better. All things considered, so far I have been paid to create viable assets used today by my clients' competitors. I think I'm a good Team Leader but when clients try to replace me they always lose all the best guys in the work group. In many cases I have organized activities outside of work on my own initiative to create empathy among the people in the group, from motor racing competitions to aperitifs where we talk about our personal hobbies and passions... this too, in addition to recognition at work, means being a good leader.

2. How did you become a leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

I started working self-taught with the Commodore 64 at 15 years old, then after having achieved several records in the development of multimedia software on the DOS operating system here are some testimonials from that period https://www.cobrasoft.it/, I started working as an employee in numerous important companies, my passion has always driven me to manage work groups of 15 to 45 people, all difficult projects but always completed successfully, what distinguishes me is creating a personal bond with the team and doing so that everyone works as a team giving their best, no one is left behind. Having reached the age of 50, I decided to stop fighting with dull managers who did not understand the rules of success at work, I am quite practical, I have a goal and I always find a practical and effective way to achieve it even when it seems impossible and even by making decisions that are not shared by the management, I therefore decided to open my own company CYBERA SRL which today includes almost all the clients I had as an employee, some that I have been following for over 15 years now. A good leader is also recognized on the market by his customers...

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

I always get up early in the morning to organize all the objectives of the day. Based on commitments, I organize trips, work in the office and sometimes even from home. In the most critical periods I work up to 14 hours a day, unfortunately in investigative cases my mind works to find a solution even when the offices are closed. To give myself a rigor to improve my health I bought a dog, so I am forced to take some walks every day with him and since I did it, I work even better, faster and more concentrated. I dedicate weekends to my passions, vintage cars and motorbikes and watches. I often have emergencies to manage on important clients in which case I have a van with which I can move all my equipment to my client's office and I move until the case is concluded. The secret of success lies in the passion I put into my work where many clients say that I have an edge over other consultants

4. What's a recent leadership lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of?

What I have understood recently, after having had some health problems, is that you shouldn't neglect your family for work. A mistake that many good managers make, but I have realized that sometimes bringing the family to work or vice versa giving up some work to be with the family is a panacea for stress and other problems... many problems are just limits that we set ourselves due to culture and little desire to change, instead we must learn to innovate and also change habits to have better health and happiness.

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

I have read several books, including Step Up or Step Out which you can also find in the Kindle version, and I have had a lot of input from meetings with other managers, with whom I have shared various topics and gathered inspiration.

Another method that I recommend is to take courses in "presentation skills", verbal, paraverbal and non-verbal communication techniques, which I often also use in the social engineering attack simulation scenarios requested by my clients.

6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young leader, what would you say to them?

I would tell him to set one small goal at a time and to set new goals for each success. Reminding him that he must learn to put himself in the shoes of those who need him, that is, ask himself "what can I do to improve life and help others?" rather than "what do I need to do to be a good leader?"

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader, so far?

Anni fa ho lavorato su un progetto di sviluppo portale di trading on line, il gruppo di lavoro non comunicava, il team leader li rimproverava perché nella messa in esercizio non funzionava l'integrazione dei vari moduli. Ho sfidato il cliente chiedend di cambiare approccio e lasciandomi condurre il team. Il risultato fu che tutto il team diventarono amici, il progetto fu consegnato con 3 mesi di anticipo e il vecchio Team Leader prese una promozione, tutto questo facendo lavorare i ragazzi del team la metà del tempo e l'altra metà si faceva formazione e giochi per aumentare le performance del gruppo. Alcuni ragazzi del team, nonostante sono passati molti anni, ancora oggi mi ringraziano perché quello è stato il progetto più bello vissuto nella loro vita!