Parakum Pathirana the COO of LOLC Technology and CISO of LOLC Holdings is a proud alumnus of the Management and Science University of Malaysia and the University of East London, the United Kingdom holding a Doctorate in Philosophy and MSc in Internet Engineering respectively. Further, he holds a number of information security and risk management credentials. Prior to joining LOLC, Parakum was heading the Information Protection and Business Resilience practice of KPMG in Sri Lanka. He has also worked in KPMG LLP in the United Kingdom and on other offshore assignments in Maldives and Pakistan. During his KPMG stint, he functioned as the National Information Security Specialist (NISS) and Deputy National IT Security Specialist (NITSO) for both Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
Having authored and co-authored over 20 publications during his professional career, Parakum has built a solid reputation by presenting his findings in local and international symposiums; Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, etc. Being well versed in his professional principles, Parakum has co-founded the well-known fintech start-up company, iPay.lk, ad simultaneously functions as the Secretary of the Computer Society of Sri Lanka. Furthermore, Parakum has played multiple roles in the ISACA Sri Lanka Chapter including his past presidency, and a founding member of the ISC2 Sri Lanka chapter. Spearheading the ICT standardization across the LOLC group during his 12 years the of work period, Parakum’s leadership has gained the group a remarkable achievement of the ISO 9001, ISO/ IEC 20,000, and ISO/ IEC 27001 certifications, including PCI DSS within the last year. Moreover, Parakum holds a number of accolades for his extensive work on information security and digitalization, including his recognition in the Asia Pacific Information Security Leadership Awards 2014 in Beijing, China, and the Digital Maestro Awards, 2020, in Sri Lanka.
Understanding the current trend followed within the industry, and having applied his extensive knowledge in his trade, Parakum states, “With the current state of the increasing trend of cloud adoptions, IoT devices, and generally rapid digitalization, ensuring data security furthermore ensuring the information security is a necessity”. Relating this to the scope followed within their business circle, Parakum states that this is not limited to LOLC groups but is also extended to Brown’s group of companies and over 25+ overseas entities, diversified around the globe.
A visionary leader he is, Parakum relates to the words of the former world-famous racing driver Mario Andretti, “It`s amazing how many people think that brakes are for slowing the car down”. Parakum finds this essentially true and concludes his account with his thoughts. “Mario Andretti was right! – breaks are to make cars go fast, but within safety limits! I believe that this is essential even in cyber security roles, within today`s organizations; Enabling them to enjoy the fullest benefits of digital transformation, while managing the many risks attached to it!”