by Sylvie Kaufman

When Todd MacDermid was seven, he was introduced to Logo, a programming language designed for kids. Now, he codes every day!

Security engineers help you feel safe and secure online and on websites. They use programing such as JavaScript and Python to keep their online files and websites safe. Their days could be very calm and easy or very stressful. Security engineers have to work on flexible hours because they never know when there could be security hazards. Security engineers also have to be alert at all times so if there is an online security problem they can fix it right away and make sure it can never happen again. As you can see, security engineers are a very important part of the community.

Besides being a security engineer at Amazon, Todd also likes to sail, canoe, go on hikes, and play video games with his kids. As a kid, and in high school, Todd loved to code with his friends. When he was in college, Todd got a degree in aerospace engineering but decided that wasn’t what he wanted to do so Todd started his career in security engineering.

Though Todd has a busy schedule, he is there for everyone in his family for their important events and performances. He brings a pager just in case there is an online security problem while he is not at work. Todd says he is very close to his dream job, which is a computer hacker.

If Todd had the same job he had now, but around 30 years ago, things would have been so much easier. For one thing, there would have been way less computers. Back then, Todd would only have to code one computer at a time. Now, he has to write code for millions of systems. Back then, hackers were not a big problem and Todd would probably just run tests on computers instead of actively defending Amazon against hackers. But it is not the past, so Todd’s job requires him to be ready whenever there is a security problem online. Sometimes Todd has to work all night to prevent a hacker from finding private information. If it is important, Todd does not mind. But sometimes Todd gets calls from companies who want their new computer systems checked, and it keeps him up all night. Todd says computers are important because computers help a lot of people find friends. Todd says he met his wife through computer dating, and they are really happy.

Todd MacDermid’s job involves a lot of rushing and coding. It’s hard, but he loves it because he gets to keep people online safe from hackers or security threats.