Por Redaccion 
The ordinary plenary session of the City Council of Vélez-Málaga for the month of June, held this Friday morning, has unanimously supported the appointment of Bernardo Quintero Ramírez as Honorary Son of the City, an international authority in cybersecurity and head of security at the technological giant Google. This proposal, led by the mayor of Vélez, Jesús Lupiáñez, has been endorsed by the entire Corporation to recognize and honor the outstanding professional career of this local resident with the highest distinction awarded by the municipality, as mentioned, for his remarkable professional journey in cybersecurity. The presentation of the well-deserved recognition will take place at an event organized by the Vélez City Council in the coming days, in a ceremony for which details are being carefully finalized.
Earlier, the procedures for the appointment of Bernardo Quintero Ramírez with this high municipal honor were initiated. Our neighbor was recently recognized as Doctor "Honoris Causa" by the University of Malaga, an honorable distinction that allows him to become part of the UMA faculty due to his magnificent professional career in the field of computer science and cybersecurity.
Quintero is currently the head of security at Google, as well as one of the architects behind the establishment of the corporation’s cybersecurity hub in Malaga, where it currently has one of its headquarters. This is a key milestone for the technological development of our region. The journey of this renowned Vélez resident intersected with the company in 2004 when Google decided to acquire the program analysis platform Virus Total, created by Quintero himself.
For all these reasons, the mayor of Vélez decided to promote the appointment of Bernardo Quintero as Honorary Son of Vélez-Málaga, in recognition of "the extraordinary professional trajectory of a Vélez professional who takes the name of our land wherever he goes," and who deserves "to be recognized for his undeniable contribution with the highest distinction of his neighbors," emphasized Jesús Lupiáñez, who, in turn, highly valued Quintero’s career path as "a firm example and advocate of entrepreneurship at an early age," as well as "his collaborative work with academic institutions to promote the attraction of technological investment to Malaga." In this sense, it is worth mentioning the "innovative and entrepreneurial spirit" of our neighbor, a clear demonstration of his contribution to our city, becoming one more of those who have helped "project Vélez-Málaga to the outside world, offering a decisive showcase for visitors to come and discover all that we can offer."
Jesús Lupiáñez expressed his satisfaction at the acceptance by the Municipal Corporation of the appointment of Quintero as Honorary Son of the City, as a way to "not only praise his professional career, dignify his innovative and entrepreneurial character, essential elements that characterize our city and reflect the determined commitment of this City Council to education, innovation, and local talent, driving forces for the construction of the future of the municipality," he emphasized.
Impressive trajectory
This citizen of Vélez-Málaga has become, on his own merits, a renowned international reference in the field of cybersecurity. Among his many achievements, he designed his first antivirus as a first-year Computer Science student, later becoming a recognized expert in this field. His extraordinary professional journey has connected him for years to one of the most important multinational corporations on the planet.
Bernardo Quintero, appointed Doctor "Honoris Causa" by the University of Malaga, in a ceremony held last Thursday in the Paraninfo of the capital, and presided over by the rector, Teodomiro López, completed his university studies in the public sector through a scholarship and has always had a close relationship with the UMA. With this academic institution, he holds the title of University Expert Diploma in Reverse Engineering and Malware Intelligence. He also conceived a coworking space – funded by Google – at the ETSI of Computer Science. In his outstanding work promoting entrepreneurship, he offers ten exclusive study grants for women each year, in line with the School’s effort to encourage female technological vocations. In fact, the University has created the first degree in Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence in Spain, once again reflecting Quintero’s imprint.
As we have learned, Quintero began his relationship with computers at just 10 years old when he made his first forays into programming. After completing his Technical Computer Engineering degree, he worked as an administrator in the Axarquía health district. Then came Hispasec and the Virus Total platform, with which he managed to uncover a coordinated attack from China against the security of the United States. Subsequently, the multinational Google acquired the company created by Quintero. The detection of the cyberattack on US national security solidified his global reputation, bringing him closer to Google, where he emerged with the creation of the Threat Group at the tech giant. This journey propelled Quintero to become the head of security at the company and laid the foundations that brought the multinational to its current headquarters on Paseo de la Farola in Malaga.
Source: Vélez Málaga