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In a SecurityWeek interview published August 28, 2024, cybersecurity specialist Runa Sandvik describes building a career around a focused need: helping journalists and other people at heightened risk work more securely. Her path—from security work at press-freedom organizations and The New York Times to independent consulting and Granitt—offers both a practical security message and a reminder that meaningful roles in tech do not have to follow a standard job description.
Why Runa Sandvik chose cybersecurity
Sandvik says her interest in technology began when she received her first computer at 15. What appealed to her was the variety: there was always something new to learn, and the work could be both challenging and rewarding.
Over time, she focused on protecting journalists and other at-risk people. She describes this as a niche she pursued for more than a decade, despite there being no standard university program or familiar job title for it. The risk, as she frames it, was committing to work without a clear career template and trusting that it was worth doing.
How that focus became Granitt
The interview says Sandvik worked on journalist security at The Tor Project, Freedom of the Press Foundation, and The New York Times. She began working for herself in 2020, then made Granitt a full business in summer 2022.
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Sandvik describes Granitt as a consultancy focused on journalists and others at risk. The people she names include lawyers, high-net-worth individuals, election workers, and people investigating government corruption or war crimes. These examples show the range of people whose work or circumstances may expose them to targeted threats; they are not a claim that everyone in those groups faces the same level or type of risk.
What “working securely” means
Sandvik’s primary focus is cybersecurity, but she argues that a useful understanding of working securely is broader than digital protection alone. She includes physical, emotional, and legal security in that picture. The interview presents this as a high-level perspective, not a detailed list of services offered by Granitt.
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That broader framing matters for people whose work is sensitive: an account can be well protected while other risks remain. Thinking about security in context means considering the person, their work, and the consequences of exposure—not only the technology they use.
Three basic digital-security steps
For people outside the security profession, Sandvik identifies three practical habits:
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- Install device updates when available. Updates can address security issues as well as add features, so avoid putting off updates indefinitely.
- Use a password manager. It can help you create and keep track of strong, unique passwords instead of reusing one password across multiple accounts.
- Enable two-factor authentication. This adds another step to account sign-in beyond the password. Sandvik does not specify a particular authenticator, security key, or service.
These are baseline practices rather than a complete security plan. Someone facing targeted threats may need advice tailored to their circumstances; the interview does not prescribe a universal setup for every risk level.
A broader idea of a cybersecurity career
Sandvik challenges the assumption that a cybersecurity career must mean working for a major technology company or consulting for large corporations. She also points beyond familiar categories such as compliance and penetration testing. Her point is not that those paths are unimportant, but that the field can include work shaped around communities and problems that existing job descriptions overlook.
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Her advice to people who cannot find the role they want is direct: “If you can’t find it, but believe the work is worth doing, you can certainly create it.” In her own account, a sustained focus on journalist security became independent work and then a business.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Inclusion in the field: progress, but not completion
On inclusion, Sandvik says she sees positive change between 2010 and 2024, while emphasizing that more work remains. This is her personal observation in the interview, not a quantified measure of the cybersecurity workforce. She sums up the principle behind her view this way: “If we are going to secure a diverse world, we need a diverse workforce too.”
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About the interview and what it establishes
Jennifer Leggio’s SecurityWeek interview, published August 28, 2024, is a career conversation rather than a comprehensive security guide. It supports the account of Sandvik’s career and the advice she gives there. It does not independently establish her present-day roles, Granitt’s current availability or service scope, or any referral relationship.
Read the full interview with Runa Sandvik at SecurityWeek.
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