Women In Cyber Take The Spotlight

As the cybersecurity industry continues to struggle to meet a workforce gap, an estimated 3.5 million jobs are expected to remain unfilled by 2021, it’s clear that encouraging women and those from diverse backgrounds to pursue careers in the field will be a key factor in staying ahead of the threat landscape. 

Changes at the RSA conference, scheduled for February in San Francisco, along with a handful of large companies stepping up to the plate with training and recruitment efforts, show that the industry may finally be getting serious about addressing the issue.

While diversity in general is an issue in tech, women are particularly underrepresented. They hold about 26 percent of tech jobs according to a research report by The American Association of University Women (AAUW), and in cybersecurity specifically that drops to just 11 percent of roles globally being held by women according to the (ISC)2 2017 Global Information Security Workforce: Women in Cyber Security study.

Aiming to create role models for others considering a career in info-security, some of the women that do work in cyber were recently thrust into the spotlight with Forbes’ US list of the 50 Top Women in Technology.

The honorees come from a wide range of sectors, including enterprise and consumer technology, gaming, artificial intelligence, aerospace and biotech, among others. 

Among them are four cybersecurity leaders: Celeste Fralick, chief data scientist at McAfee; Laura Mather, cofounder at Silver Tail Systems; Katie Moussouris, CEO and founder at Luta Security; and Tal Rabin, head of the Cryptography Research Group for the Thomas J. Watson Research Center at IBM.

Also, RSA, after facing enormous criticism for women representing less than 1 percent of the speaker lineup at its last outing (and just one keynote), in November announced that it is shying away from all-male panels and would be encouraging companies to diversify their representatives to the conference, among other changes.

Against this backdrop of an increased focus on women already working in the field, a range of organizations are rolling out efforts to attract new women and girls to the mix.

For instance, IBM and Florida International University recently did their part by inviting more than 200 girls from seven different schools across Miami-Dade for “IBMCyberDay4Girls,” a one-day conference that educates young women in fifth grade up to eleventh grade about cybersecurity, from how to protect yourself on social media to what careers are available in cybersecurity.

“We have a huge shortage of cybersecurity professionals, and this is a very good way for them to start getting interested. They see how different aspects of cybersecurity affect their personal lives and their families,” said Helvetiella Longoria, CISO at FIU. “We hope to continue to encourage and support female students to pursue interests in cybersecurity. Through these programs and our continued partnership with IBM, we hope to provide a voice in guiding and fostering them in this direction.”

The Cisco Women in Cybersecurity mentoring program meanwhile reaches out to girls in middle school, high school and college and runs recruitment programs for jobs at the networking giant. The program also connects students externally with other organisations.

And Apple said in late November that it would launch a new program designed to address the scarcity of women in tech executive and computer programming jobs. 

Beginning in January, female entrepreneurs and programmers will attend two-week tutorial sessions at the company’s Cupertino headquarters; these will run every three months.

These and other industry efforts are important in dispelling the stereotypes that exist around cyber and tech jobs, a key factor in the lack of diversity.

“One myth [about cybersecurity] is that to work in it, you have to be hacker or a coder and that it’s just for boys. 

The other is that everybody thinks that you have to have a computer science degree, and that’s just not true. We need people with all sorts of skills,” said IBM’s academic outreach leader, Heather Ricciuto.

Threatpost:

You Might Also Read:

Why Are So Few Women In Cybersecurity?

« The NSA Is Spying On You Now
Audit Finds Cyber Vulnerabilities In US Missile Defense System »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

The PC Support Group

The PC Support Group

A partnership with The PC Support Group delivers improved productivity, reduced costs and protects your business through exceptional IT, telecoms and cybersecurity services.

Directory of Cyber Security Suppliers

Directory of Cyber Security Suppliers

Our Supplier Directory lists 7,000+ specialist cyber security service providers in 128 countries worldwide. IS YOUR ORGANISATION LISTED?

CYRIN

CYRIN

CYRIN® Cyber Range. Real Tools, Real Attacks, Real Scenarios. See why leading educational institutions and companies in the U.S. have begun to adopt the CYRIN® system.

Resecurity

Resecurity

Resecurity is a cybersecurity company that delivers a unified platform for endpoint protection, risk management, and cyber threat intelligence.

IT Governance

IT Governance

IT Governance is a leading global provider of information security solutions. Download our free guide and find out how ISO 27001 can help protect your organisation's information.

Mielabelo

Mielabelo

Belgian consulting firm providing services in the security and compliance of information systems and IT service management.

Wall Street Technology Association (WSTA)

Wall Street Technology Association (WSTA)

The Wall Street Technology Association (WSTA) provides financial industry technology professionals with forums to learn from and connect with each other.

IP Performance

IP Performance

IP Performance Limited is a leading supplier of customised network infrastructure and security solutions.

Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI)

Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI)

CPNI works with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), Cabinet Office and lead Government departments and agencies to drive forward the UK's cyber security programme to counter cyber threats.

iProov

iProov

iProov delivers authentication and verification simply and securely, based on a genuine one-time biometric.

Google for Startups

Google for Startups

Google for Startups is Google’s initiative to help startups thrive across every corner of the world.

BackupVault

BackupVault

BackupVault is a leading provider of automatic cloud backup and critical data protection against ransomware, insider attacks and hackers for businesses and organisations worldwide.

Cyber Intelligence 4U

Cyber Intelligence 4U

Cyber Intelligence 4U is an educational services company that provides two levels of cybersecurity training programs: executive and technical.

Ackcent Cybersecurity

Ackcent Cybersecurity

Ackcent's mission is to help our clients to protect their critical digital assets by providing them with a portfolio of specialised professional services.

DataEndure

DataEndure

DataEndure helps companies build digital resilience so that their critical information assets are protected and available to the right people, at the right time.

NSR

NSR

NSR provide trusted solutions that deliver positive business outcomes for our clients in cybersecurity and data protection challenges.

senhasegura

senhasegura

senhasegura is a global Privileged Access Management vendor. Our mission is to eliminate privilege abuse in organizations around the globe and build digital sovereignty.

Quzara

Quzara

Quzara provides trusted advisory services and highly adaptive cybersecurity services to federal, commercial and Defense Industrial Base customers to meet their security compliance and cyber needs.

c0c0n

c0c0n

c0c0n is the longest running conferences in the area of Information Security and Hacking, in India.

Backslash Security

Backslash Security

With Backslash, AppSec teams gain visibility into critical risks in their apps based on reachability and exploitability.

CRYPTIQ

CRYPTIQ

CRYPTIQ empowers businesses to navigate the ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape with confidence and clarity.