Meet the Team: Mike Johnson - Senior Quantitative Developer

DeNexus Inc, is the leader of second-generation cyber risk quantification and management to OT/ICS Industrial stakeholders, OT service providers, and the cyber risk transfer market.

Our flagship platform, DeRISK, is the world’s first evidence-based, data-driven, real-time, cloud-based technology that delivers accurate and credible Industrial OT Cyber Risk Exposure, Probability of Loss, Financial Impact of Cyber Events, ROI-based Mitigation Options to reduce cyber risk over time, and a more comprehensive understanding of your organizations risk posture enabling the best Risk Transfer options.

Here are the people behind the technology working to develop credible modeling in order to quantify cyber risk to OT Industrial stakeholders and cyber risk transfer market.

We are proud to introduce you to:  Mike Johnson - Senior Quantitative Developer

1. What was your career journey that led you to joining DeNexus?
   My background is full of different experiences and jobs related to DeNexus so it’s not a surprise I joined the team on a new adventure. My Master’s degree is in Mechanical Engineering studying Control Systems and robotics which relates to a number of the industry verticals that DeNexus supports.
   
   I also spent years working at a computer networking lab as a developer that gives me strong practical experience in many of the networking and cyber concerns related to DeNexus’s business.  From there I moved to Boston and joined a company that creates robotics and sensor prototypes.
   
   Part of the job involved creating mathematical models and simulations that are similar to the work some of DeNexus’s Data Scientists do today. Most recently, I was working for a startup as a Quantitative Developer modeling and simulating Put Option contracts. These are financial contracts used to hedge and insure risk similar to the cyber risk products being developed at DeNexus.
   
   
2. Where will you be based?
   I am based in Boston! Originally, I grew up in New Hampshire and still return often to visit family, hike in the White Mountains, and ski.
   
   
3. What is an average day in the life of a Principal Quantitative Developer?
   The average day for a quant developer usually revolves around math and code. The job sits between the modeling members of the team and the software developer members of the team in order to help translate the models and provide a production-ready product to the users.
   
   There is also the financial side of the job involving working with the risk transfer market and the members of the team who are subject matter experts to ensure that risks, uncertainty, and impacts are being considered and accounted for correctly.
   
   
4. How does your role fit into DeNexus’ mission to become the global standard of industrial cyber risk quantification for agencies, shareholders, investors, boards and risk transfer market?
   Quantifying cyber risk involves measuring and modeling the probabilities and likelihood of different types of attacks as well as their financial impact to industrial equipment, agencies, and eventually the investors, shareholders, and boards responsible for the assets at risk
   
   The development work involves working with the team to deliver the models and theory as a high-quality final product that allows the risk transfer market and business stakeholders to understand the financial risks in a familiar and intuitive way.

5. What is the riskiest thing you’ve ever done?
   I went on a backpacking trip into the Sawtooth Mountain Wilderness in Idaho for two weeks with one of my friends. The hiking trip was filled with beautiful sights and many natural wonders that the American West is famous for. Spending that much time in a remote wilderness requires managing physical risks to your body, bag weight, food and water resources, harsh weather, equipment, battery lifetime, injury risk, the risks of wild animals, sun exposure and altitude sickness, and the logistics of picking good campsites and the trip timing. Managing all the planning and risks was a lot of work but the trip was extremely rewarding. I definitely plan on doing more big hiking trips in the future.

For more news and information regarding DeNexus visit: https://blog.denexus.io/resources/tag/blog