Aimee Moriarty has worked in Cybersecurity in the Financial Services sector for over 15 years and has held roles in digital forensics, threat hunting and incident response. In 2020, she became Northern Trust’s first Threat Hunter at the bank. The primary goal of both her work and her team’s work is threat hunting and that involves quickly detecting and defending against malicious activity that has the potential to evade security measures.

Describe your role at Northern Trust

I’m Aimee Moriarty and I’m Director of Cyber Threat Hunt Operations.

Threat hunting is a cyber defense activity that involves proactively searching for cyber threats that may be lurking within an organization’s systems and network. The primary goal of threat hunting is to quickly detect malicious activity that has the potential to evade current security measures.

By doing so, not only do we promptly address immediate threats, but also develop new detection mechanisms. These new detections enable us to receive timely alerts in the future, enhancing our ability to detect and prevent future cyber threats, keep our systems and data safe.

Take us through how you ended up at Northern? Briefly describe your career path. And what do you see as the next step in your career progression? 

I have worked in Cybersecurity in the Financial Services sector for over 15 years and have held roles in digital forensics, threat hunting and incident response.

I joined Northern Trust in 2018 as a Senior Cyber Threat Analyst in a Security Operations and Incident Response role and then in 2020, I became our first Threat Hunter at the bank.

I currently lead a global team of highly skilled threat hunters who play a critical role in identifying and mitigating cybersecurity threats to the bank.

In terms of career progression and next steps, I would like to continue to develop professionally and through increased responsibility and continued achievements, I would like to continue to grow my career at Northern Trust and be recognized with a promotion to Senior Director and Senior Vice President.

What or who inspired you to pursue a career in technology? 

I am going to date myself here, but I’d have to say I was inspired in elementary school math class where I was introduced to an educational computer game called Number Munchers. I remember being mesmerized by the computer lab and the fact that someone programmed the game, which sure beat learning addition and subtraction on paper. Additionally, I had a wonderful programming teacher in high school who inspired me to sign up for her class as she intentionally focused on getting more young women interested in math and tech.

What are you most proud of in your career at Northern Trust so far?

I have many proud moments at Northern, but most recently I was 1 of 148 people to complete the “Strengthen Your Foundation” certificate program which was sponsored by Northern Trust’s Women in Leadership employee-led Business Resource Council. This program gave me the opportunity to connect with partners from offices across the world and build on my business and financial acumen skills.

It makes me proud to be part of an organization that invests in its employee’s development.

What technology/technologies have you been excited to work with here at Northern Trust? 

Our leadership team invests in some of the best cybersecurity tools in the market, helping set our security team up for success in defending against advanced threats. I feel very fortunate to get to work with cutting-edge tech, however cybersecurity is not just about the technology we use.

Having the best people who are trained to design, implement, manage, and fine-tune these tools, and are experts at interpreting and analyzing the data these tools generate, is an equally important component to an effective cybersecurity team.

What do you most enjoy about working in technology? 

I love the fast-paced environment of cybersecurity and the varied work - no two days are the same and there is never a dull moment. It’s challenging and exciting work and I feel a strong sense of mission in protecting our data and infrastructure from unauthorized access, theft, damage and disruption.

Cyber, the cloud, machine learning, artificial intelligence. What piques your interest most?  

Artificial Intelligence. I believe AI will lead to a more sophisticated cyber threat landscape, but I also think cyber defenders will have more powerful tools to leverage because of AI. I also think it's exciting to think how much more productive we can be if we use AI to automate or augment some tasks and allow us to focus our time on things, we as humans do best: setting strategy, being creative and innovative, understanding the motivation and intent of attackers, collaborating with each other and critical thinking.

How do you keep your skills fresh? How does Northern Trust University help you build your skills?

Since the cyber threat landscape is constantly changing and evolving, it’s important to keep my skills current.

Northern Trust has offered several avenues to stay ahead of the latest cyber threats, such as O’Reilly Media and Pluralsight’s ‘A Cloud Guru’ subscriptions, ImmersiveLabs and SANS Institute classes.

We also emphasize internal knowledge sharing, where every two weeks we take turns training each other on relevant Cybersecurity topics of interest.

Finally, we have Northern Trust University, our very own custom learning platform with a diverse catalog of learning resources such as business/finance, leadership and technical courses.

Can you share one challenge you’ve had to overcome in your career? 

Self-doubt. I hear about self-doubt and “imposter syndrome” often from many people in cybersecurity and tech roles at all levels - early career to specialists.  Due to the ever-changing threat landscape, technology, and tools emerge all the time, and it can feel like sometimes you’re not keeping up or progressing as fast as you’d like to or as fast as your peers. The constant learning curve can make you feel the pressure to “catch up”, even when you’re highly competent!  

A few ways that I overcame this is to realize that these feelings don’t reflect my actual abilities, I’ve come to embrace lifelong learning as a journey and finally have a good mentor who can provide prospective and validation if you need a quick reminder and a boost.

What would you say to someone considering a career at Northern Trust? 

Northern Trust really is a great place work, whether you’re looking for a place to start or grow your career.

Lastly, how can we encourage younger generations to go into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)?  

Kids are naturally curious, so I think exposing them to STEM at an early age with engaging, hands-on exploration and activities, could pique their interest. I also think it's important to inspire them through role models that show representation in STEM careers to help break stereotypes and prove inclusivity.

Fast Facts

Name -  Aimee Moriarty

Role - Director, Cyber Threat Hunting

Business Unit - Information Technology > Cybersecurity > Global Threat Management

Office Location - Chicago

Education - B.S., Purdue University

Any additional certifications - CISA, EnCE, GCFE, GCIH, GNFA, GCFA, GREM, GDAT

Hometown / where are you living now – Naperville, IL

Where do you volunteer your time? I recently volunteered with other Northern Trust InfoSec partners at Feed My Starving Children.

What are you reading / podcast recommendation – Podcasts: Darknet Diaries, Risky Biz, Afternoon Cyber Tea

Best advice you’ve received – If you are offered an opportunity that you’re excited about, but you have doubts, say YES and figure out the details later.

Describe Northern Trust in one word - Expertise

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