RUSHIKESH NIKAM
Reading
Summary
- Seasoned and strategic Senior Cyber Security Professional with 16 years of progressive experience, specialising in Enterprise Cyber Governance, Strategic Risk Management, and leading global Security Operations (SOC/CERT) across highly regulated, large-scale environments. Proven expertise in translating complex technical issues (Zero-Day threats, critical vulnerabilities) into clear, actionable risk management strategies for C-suite and senior leadership.
- Strong leadership track record, including building, mentoring, and leading high-performing CERT/SOC teams and managing the full critical incident lifecycle (ransomware, DDoS) for rapid business continuity.
- Deep technical foundation across SIEM (Splunk, Sentinel), EDR (CrowdStrike, Defender), and Cloud Security, complemented by significant experience in DevSecOps and Security Architecture.
- Currently UK-based, adept at stakeholder management, cross-functional collaboration, and delivering concise, impactful strategic security reports.
Overview
16
16
years of professional experience
3
3
Certification
Work History
Enterprise Cyber Issue Management, Senior Analyst
Maersk Line UK Ltd
06.2023 - Current
- Company Overview: Global Shipping/Logistics
- Strategic Risk Leadership: Managed the end-to-end lifecycle for critical Zero-Day vulnerabilities and enterprise cyber issues across multiple global business portfolios, ensuring risk was consistently managed to an accepted risk threshold for executive sign-off.
- Governance & Standards: Established a systematic governance framework for managing PKI and Account Hygiene, documenting and implementing comprehensive SOPs that streamlined workflows and enforced consistent security practices organization-wide.
- Vulnerability & Compliance: Supported the implementation of CIS Level 1 benchmarks across cloud environments to identify and remediate critical misconfigurations, driving targeted mitigation efforts that contributed to a demonstrable reduction in residual risk.
- Stakeholder Influence: Empowered Cyber Leaders and Regional CSOs with critical, timely insights into emerging threats and attack surface issues, directly influencing strategic resource allocation and proactive mitigation decisions.
- Process Optimisation: Significantly reduced SLA for security approvals without compromising cyber posture by building strong RACI alignment across the wider Cyber organisation, facilitating faster operational changes.
- Team Development: Mentored a team of 6 members within the new Issue Management structure, enhancing team capability and fostering a proactive, strategic approach to enterprise risk.
- 1. Enterprise Cyber Issue Management, Senior Analyst (June 2023 – Present)
- Analyzed complex data sets to identify trends and inform strategic decision-making.
- Developed comprehensive reports to support executive leadership and guide business initiatives.
- Led cross-functional teams in process improvement projects, enhancing operational efficiency.
- Mentored junior analysts, fostering skill development and knowledge sharing within the team.
- Streamlined reporting processes, reducing turnaround time for key performance metrics delivery.
- Presented analytical findings to stakeholders, facilitating data-driven discussions and action plans.
- Mentored junior analysts, fostering professional development while enhancing overall team performance.
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams to identify areas of improvement, leading to increased operational effectiveness.
- Enhanced team productivity by streamlining workflow processes and implementing time-saving strategies.
CERT, Escalations & Continuous Improvements (E&CI) Functional Lead
Maersk Line UK Ltd
03.2022 - 05.2023
- Company Overview: Global Shipping/Logistics
- Critical Incident Leadership: Served as the primary Functional Lead for Enterprise & Critical Incident Management, leading a high-performing CERT team of 6 security professionals (L3/L2, including forensics and OT specialists).
- IR Execution & Continuity: Directed the technical response, containment, and recovery for major business-impacting cyber incidents, including sophisticated ransomware, malware, and DDoS attacks, ensuring rapid business continuity.
- Post-Incident Review: Spearheaded Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and supported forensic investigations post-incident, translating findings into actionable management recommendations that measurably enhanced future organizational resilience.
- Process Enhancement: Drove continuous improvisation initiatives across Cyber Operations, leading to process optimisation and a measurable enhancement of overall security efficiency and response capabilities.
- 2. CERT, Escalations & Continuous Improvements (E&CI) Functional Lead (Mar 2022 – May 2023)
Senior Analyst CSOC
Maersk Line UK Ltd
11.2018 - 02.2022
- Company Overview: Global Shipping/Logistics
- SOC & IR Framework Development: Spearheaded the design and implementation of the Cyber Security Incident and Response framework and comprehensive SOPs for a newly formed function directly following the 2017 Maersk Cyber attack.
- Foundational Capabilities: Played a key role in establishing foundational Vulnerability Management and Threat Intelligence functions, integrating them seamlessly with SOC operations to support broader strategic security goals.
- 3. Senior Analyst CSOC (Nov 2018 – Feb 2022)
Senior Cyber Assurance Manager
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd
01.2017 - 09.2018
- Company Overview: Telecommunications
- Security Architecture & GRC: Led Security Architectural reviews for new application development, providing critical, timely insights and recommending secure solutions that mitigated potential risks at the design phase (Shift-Left).
- Compliance Assurance: Championed Cyber Compliance and Assurance initiatives, ensuring new applications met stringent security standards (ISO 27001 principles) prior to go-live, reducing post-deployment vulnerabilities and audit findings.
- 1. Senior Cyber Assurance Manager (Jan 2017 – Sep 2018)
Senior Operations Manager
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd
09.2015 - 01.2017
- Company Overview: Telecommunications
- Greenfield SOC Establishment: Played a pivotal role in a Greenfield project to establish and operationalize the SOC from the ground up, including defining incident response workflows and setting up critical security alerts for scalable cyber defense.
- 2. Senior Operations Manager (Sep 2015 – Jan 2017)
SOC Manager (Vodafone Client)
IBM
03.2015 - 09.2015
- Company Overview: Managed Security Services
- Managed Vodafone’s SOC operations from the client location, overseeing day-to-day activities to ensure efficient functioning of the security environment.
- Team Leadership: Led a team of 8 cyber analysts and SMEs, ensuring the monitoring and investigation of all security incidents within stipulated Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
- Risk & Change Control: Acted as the primary approver for all Firewall and Proxy changes, maintaining a strict security posture while coordinating closely with the Change Control team for secure implementation.
- SIEM Deployment: Spearheaded the deployment and configuration of cutting-edge SIEM solutions, integrating diverse security logs and enabling real-time threat detection capabilities across the network.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Zoology
University of Mumbai
Mumbai, India01.2003
Skills
- Cyber Operations & Resilience
- Technical Platforms & Standards
- Enterprise Cyber Issues Management
- Global Incident Response (CERT/SOC)
- ISO 27001 & NIST CSF
- Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC)
- Enterprise Vulnerability Management (VM)
- CISM & ITIL V4
- Senior Stakeholder Management & Reporting
- Security Architecture Review
- SIEM: Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel
- Process and SOP Development
- Threat Intelligence & Hunting
- EDR/XDR: CrowdStrike, SentinelOne
- Process Optimisation & Audit Readiness
- Digital Forensics Coordination & RCA
- DevSecOps & Cloud Security Principles
Certification
- ISACA: Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) – Dec 2022
- ISA/IEC 62443 Fundamental Specialist – Feb 2024 (Relevant for OT/Critical Infrastructure)
- ITIL V4: Foundation - IT Service Management, Mar 2021
Timeline
Enterprise Cyber Issue Management, Senior Analyst
Maersk Line UK Ltd
06.2023 - Current
CERT, Escalations & Continuous Improvements (E&CI) Functional Lead
Maersk Line UK Ltd
03.2022 - 05.2023
Senior Analyst CSOC
Maersk Line UK Ltd
11.2018 - 02.2022
Senior Cyber Assurance Manager
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd
01.2017 - 09.2018
Senior Operations Manager
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd
09.2015 - 01.2017
SOC Manager (Vodafone Client)
IBM
03.2015 - 09.2015
Bachelor of Science - Zoology
University of Mumbai