In Focus: Joel Healy
Name: Joel Healy
Job title: Identity & Access Management Specialist
Department: Cyber Security
How long have you been at Mohawk: 10 years!
Tell us what you do at the College?
In 2021, I joined the Cyber Security team as a Cyber Security Analyst. Earlier this year, my role transitioned to Identity & Access Management Specialist, where I now support a multi-year Identity & Access Management (IAM) Program implementation. At a high level, IAM ensures that the right individuals have the right access to the right resources at the right times, while protecting sensitive data. It streamlines user authentication and authorization, enhances security, and simplifies compliance. By safeguarding information and improving user experiences, IAM provides seamless and secure access to digital services.
As we progress through our IAM roadmap and implement new tools and services, this work will take up an increasing amount of my time over the next few years. In the meantime, I remain involved in several other Cyber Security activities, including Vulnerability Management (the ongoing process of identifying, assessing, and addressing potential security weaknesses in software and servers to keep our data safe), PCI Compliance (adhering to security standards to protect payment card information and maintain customer trust), and training initiatives. You may be familiar with some of these from the 'Working at Mohawk' modules, such as Cyber Security Awareness Training, PCI-specific training, or the new role-based training we are starting to roll out.
What is the one thing that makes you want to come to work each day?
I’ve always had a passion for computers, data analysis, and diving deep into my favourite topics. Computers have changed a lot since I was teaching myself Commodore 64 BASIC programming language in the 1980s but they’ve never gotten boring. Likewise, with Cyber Security the landscape has already changed in the 3 years since I’ve become involved in the discipline, so there is always something new to learn. In this department, I’m lucky to be able to have a mix of organized project work and ad hoc investigations (sometimes getting to the bottom of the mystery “it”, whatever “it” was, and sometimes it turns out I was chasing cyber ghosts), but it’s always fun and an interesting challenge trying to connect the dots.
However, the one thing that makes me want to come to work each day is the people. I’ve worked on a lot of great teams in my career so far, but this team is my favourite. It’s a great mix of smart people who share my enthusiasm for this field, and due to our different backgrounds and skill sets we are always teaching each other new tricks and learning new things (and sometimes learning them again – information overload is real!) The collaboration and constant exchange of knowledge make every day rewarding and exciting.
What is something your colleagues may not know about you?
I’m a music fanatic! Music almost became my career—in high school I played the euphonium (a brass instrument that looks like a small tuba but has its own distinctive sound) and studied music composition. For my final music project, I composed a brass quartet. While in high school, I also wrote music, played guitar, and sang for a few short-lived rock bands. Being the indecisive teenager that I was, I applied for Mohawk College’s Applied Music program but didn’t follow through with pursuing the education.
Before my kids were born, nearly all my vacations revolved around live music. Some standout experiences include seeing The Grateful Dead’s 50th Anniversary concert in Chicago at Soldier Field with over 70,000 others, catching Outkast at a beach festival on the Gulf of Mexico in Alabama, and making several road trips to Sackville, New Brunswick for Sappyfest—an annual festival curated by Canadian indie musicians that brings together talent from coast to coast and a few international acts.
I’ve also dabbled in music journalism for fun. From 2019 to 2022, I maintained a daily blog where I promised to review one song per day, “forever”—which ended up lasting 1192 days, so not quite “forever”. I stopped to focus on a longer-form music writing project, though I’m still in the research phase.
Bonus answer: I’m also a big baseball fan. I always try to catch a game when travelling, and have seen the Toronto Blue Jays play on the road in New York City, Chicago, Cleveland, Seattle, San Diego, and San Francisco.
What is your favourite thing to do outside of work?
My wife and I have 2 young children so these days we’re spending considerably less time at music festivals and more time hanging out with the kids – our favourite things to do include camping at Ontario’s provincial parks, walking the trails at Royal Botanical Gardens, and going on bike rides. Hopefully that provides some balance to the computers and video games inside the house! Other than that, I am always dreaming up new ideas for creative projects (I’m currently toying with the idea of putting together a cookbook to share with friends and family I enjoy trying new recipes or trying to recreate something I’ve eaten at a restaurant) and trying my best to not leave too many half-finished projects behind.