Claudiu Popa

Claudiu Popa is a Computer security expert based in Canada. Popa is an author, educator and privacy rights advocate who frequently contributes to national media and print publications. Popa is a co-founder of the Knowledgeflow Cybersafety Foundation, where he oversees academic research and data-driven education programs. He is also the co-founder and CEO of Informatica Security Corporation, a Toronto-based cybersecurity consultancy with a focus on information risk management.
== Career ==
Popa graduated from York University with a Bachelor of Computer Science. After founding the company that became Informatica Security Corporation in 1989, he focused his career on addressing economic and societal problems such as cyber safety and public awareness of security and privacy issues through nonprofit organizations including Knowledgeflow and KnowledgeWise.
From 2016-2018 Popa taught at Seneca College as a lecturer on Financial technology, and since 2018 he has been an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto teaching courses on enterprise privacy and cybersafety. He is also a past lecturer at Schulich School of Business, Ontario Tech University, Centennial College, Mohawk College, and Ryerson University.
Popa is a frequent guest and contributor to national radio and television programs including CTV News, CBC News, and Marketplace (Canadian TV program). He is also a writer with published scholarly articles and academic texts on cybersecurity including The Canadian Cyberfraud Handbook: A Professional Reference in 2017 and The Canadian Privacy and Data Security Toolkit for Small and Medium Enterprises.
== Advocacy Work ==
For more than 25 years, Popa has been involved in improving cybersecurity education. In May 2010, Popa co-founded the Knowledgeflow Cybersafety Foundation, a Canadian nonprofit foundation committed to improving digital literacy in Canada.
In February 2013, Stouffville District Secondary School inadvertently sent student contact information, including phone numbers, emails, and Ontario education numbers, to over 1,000 local families. Popa, a resident of the area, had hoped to work with the school on his educational workshops. Popa called for better information security for children, including complying with the proper levels of legislation when protecting student data.
In January 2019, Edsby suffered a security breach that exposed students' personal information, including those in the York Region District School Board. Popa, whose children attend a school in this school board, had been concerned about Edsby's security since he received a suspicious email from them in November 2017. Through non-hacking means, Popa discovered that he could access students' personal information through Edsby. The school board declined Popa's offer for free professional advice in fixing security issues he discovered, which he offered in the months leading up to the breach. After the breach, Popa worked to inform local parents of the potential threat to their children and advocated for the school board to strengthen their cybersecurity to prevent any future breaches from happening.
== Publications ==
* Embedding privacy into what’s next: Privacy by Design for the Internet of Things
* The Canadian Cyber Fraud Handbook
* Business strategies-Information security for non-profits
* Information security for non-profits
* Managing Personal Information: Insights on Corporate Risk and Opportunity for Privacy-Savvy Leaders
* Technology Spotlight: Cybersecurity and Data Protection
 
Category:Computer security specialists
Category:Canadian writers
Category:Canadian educators