By Allan Wasega, KamiLimu Committee Member
I first met Martin Mwangi, who is the Technical Solutions Lead Consultant at Serianu Limited, when I was a KamiLimu 3.0 mentee as he was taking the group through the basics of cybersecurity. Looking back, what particularly stood out for me was his graceful way of introducing us to what cybersecurity entailed and the key attributes that students need to excel in the field. Plus, he always had a smile on his face, which made me find him less intimidating, even though back then he was talking about concepts that made my head swim: Wireshark, Nmap, computer port numbers, analyzing payloads, and running labs on VMs to gain work experience (I did not know what a VM was).
Almost three years later, I sat him down for an interview via Google Meet to understand what drives him as a person, and the goals and achievements he, alongside Brian Nyali, have made as the Cybersecurity Track professional mentors to a group of KamiLimu 5.0 mentees.
Q: Who is Martin Mwangi?
A: Martin Mwangi is a husband to one and a father to one too. I love mentoring and working with young people.
Q: How long have you been working with Serianu and why did you focus on cybersecurity?
A: I have been working with Serianu, which is a Nairobi-based cybersecurity firm, for the past six years. My journey into the field of cybersecurity started when I was a second year in JKUAT after a public speaker — Eric Ogonji — told us his life story in tech. After that presentation, I aligned my interests to units that focus on cybersecurity, for example, Information Security Audit. In my final year, my dad emphasized that I should get an internship before my graduation. So, one day, I was perusing the newspapers in the school library and I chanced upon a publication by a cybersecurity firm called Serianu. My interest was piqued because I wanted to know more about this organization that was large enough to publish an item in the dailies. So, knowing that it is easier to secure an internship than a job, I wrote to Serianu asking to intern with them. I have never looked back since.
Q: So, what got you interested in mentorship?
A: My mentorship journey actually started while at university. As a student, I found myself in a position where my classmates were looking up to me, which I found out one day when, after a lecturer missed a class, a section of them decided to go back to the hostels to sleep. One of my classmates, upon hearing that I was among those who were going to sleep, exclaimed that they too would no longer wait for the lecturer to show up! Over the years, I have come to view mentorship as looking at that area in which you have grown and sharing it with others. At the same time, to be an effective mentor, one has to love being mentored themselves. Finally, someone who has received help would also want to help. These three factors have been my driving force as I walk the journey of mentorship.
Q: How did you end up at KamiLimu as a mentor?
A: Generally, I am a person who believes in not reinventing the wheel; that is, if someone is doing something in which I believe, I would support that cause rather than establish my own. In 2017, a friend of mine, Isaac, was invited by KeMU’s Computer Science club to give a talk about careers in cybersecurity. Now, Isaac majors mainly in ICT Compliance, so he felt that I would be better suited to give such a talk. Afterwards, one of the attendees introduced me to KamiLimu, which was being run by Dr. Chao within KeMU. The idea of KamiLimu, especially the work it was doing with its mentees attracted me as I was a contributor to Serianu’s Cyber Immersion Program, which mentors university students interested in cybersecurity. I then got Dr. Chao’s contact details, and we have been working together since 2018.
Q: This year, you and Brian Nyali have been working with a group of KamiLimu mentees interested in careers in cybersecurity. One of the tasks was to organize and supervise personal projects that the mentees were to complete as part of their portfolios. What was your approach to these personal projects?
A: Research is one of the key focus areas at Serianu. In fact, even as a practitioner, I conduct research into various aspects of cybersecurity everyday. This year, as Serianu, we want to encourage university students to view conducting such studies as part of a cybersecurity analyst’s work, and we have a series of topics lined up. Therefore, we extended this strategy in the personal projects undertaken by the KamiLimu mentees, where we assigned groups of two a particular topic to investigate and publish a report of their findings.
Q: That is an interesting strategy. What is the interconnection between cybersecurity and research?
A: I always say that given two cybersecurity analysts, one who only knows about the tools to use and another who can conduct research, the researcher has a longer shelf life than the former. Therefore, it is important for students to have a good foundation in research; in this way, they can equip themselves with useful competencies such as problem solving and the ability to come up with appropriate solutions to an issue. At the same time, doing so helps them keep up with emerging trends in their field of interest. Thus, we wanted our mentees to cultivate these skills, and that is why we asked them to write a research paper on a particular topic for their personal projects.
Q: What was your experience on the track as the mentees completed their personal projects?
A: We have a group of interesting mentees who took their time to complete the assignment as asked. Therefore, it has been exciting working with them. Overall, as a mentor, I like the structured way that KamiLimu has organized its sessions, including the ICT tracks. As a mentor, this structure, including the reviews that we receive, are important to me as I believe that the effectiveness of mentorship lies not in a mentor’s knowledge but their impact.
Q: What did your mentees achieve and was this in line with your hopes?
A: I will be in a position to give a better answer at the end of the ICT Track sessions. However, for now, I can say so far so good. In the end, Brain and I hope to assist all of the mentees secure internships so that they can practice what they learn.
Q: Thank you so much for your time, Martin. It was a pleasure conducting this interview with you.
A: Welcome, Allan. In closing, I would like to emphasize the need to remain thirsty for knowledge and to treat everything as a learning opportunity. That is something that always keeps me grounded as I have met some of the most knowledgeable, yet humble, cybersecurity practitioners in my line of work.
