Cybersecurity Leadership

More women are entering cybersecurity, but they still struggle to reach senior positions, pointing to the need to break the glass ceiling.

To fix retention and skills gaps, we need to encourage more women and minorities to build careers in cybersecurity.

Cybersecurity threats are growing at an alarming rate across the globe while at the same time, cybercriminals are becoming even more sophisticated in their methods of attacks. Meanwhile, the shortage of cybersecurity talent is making it difficult for organisations and industries to meet these constantly shifting security demands.

A new survey reveals surprising opportunities for significant progress in both increasing participation and filling the shortfall of women in cybersecurity

Job postings that suggest a frat house mindset, work-life imbalance, and pay gaps are among the areas companies should focus on if they want to hire and keep more women cybersecurity professionals.

The ever-evolving nature of cyber threats is one of the reasons it’s incredibly difficult to find professionals with the necessary credentials. Companies must embrace a wide network of workers from diverse ethnic, social and cultural backgrounds.

Three observations about our industry that might help demystify security for women entrants.

It’s pretty well established that diverse teams tend to produce more creative and innovative solutions and are generally higher performing. This can be especially so in cybersecurity, where the ability to understand the mindset of hackers and mitigate what are often extremely complex attacks is so important.

There is often a misconception that cyber security jobs are very technical. In fact, there are a wide variety of different jobs roles requiring a variety of skillsets, including communication specialists, behavioural scientists, lawyers and graphic designers.

Companies should set up internal metrics for community outreach and recruitment that are part of a comprehensive plan, not just put up a booth in a college job fair. 

For the IT industry as a whole, remote working just might be the long awaited silver bullet to the skills shortage that we've been waiting for.

CIOs and other IT leaders must attract, retain and hire professionals with broad cybersecurity skills, but that's not as easy as it sounds. Here's some advice.

While other professions are making up ground, cybersecurity still lags behind in female representation, thanks to a lack of respect and inclusion.

Women represent only 30% of the global cybersecurity workforce, reflecting a slow growth rate and pervasive social inequalities. As we witness a concerning increase in cyber harm and a widening skills gap within the industry, it becomes imperative to engage more women in cybersecurity. Diversity is not merely a desirable trait; it’s a fundamental necessity

Four successful women in cybersecurity share their learnings on overcoming gender bias to get to the C-suite.

Cybersecurity leaders should strive to reward high-performing teams that are powered by high levels of inclusion.

Since the beginning of 2022, nearly 175,000 tech workers have lost their jobs in sweeping layoffs from firms both big and small, according to Layoffs.fyi, which tracks tech layoffs. No single industry or function has been immune from tech job losses, but cybersecurity roles still remain in high demand.

The cybersecurity sector needs 3.4 million people to fill its skills gap. The sector should make training available to those from underrepresented groups.

The Aspen Institute has some concrete suggestions to increase diversity in cybersecurity, including taking away the burden of the cost of certification, something larger companies could certainly do; establishing partnerships with organizations that can bring in more diverse candidates; and creating mentorship programs that focus on diverse people, among other things.

The cybersecurity industry has seen rapid growth throughout the pandemic with many opportunities for women looking to return to the profession or even to join for the first time. By encouraging women into the cyber workforce, we will come closer to gender parity and create a competitive industry.

Recently, the National Security Agency (NSA) teamed up with Bowie State University, a Historically Black University in Bowie, Maryland, for an 8-week intensive program focused on diversifying the cybersecurity profession and engaging African American students at HBCUs.

Attacks on cybersecurity are increasing in scale and severity. The lack of diversity in cybersecurity blinds the industry to future threats and hinders it from coming up with more agile ideas to face them. 

AvidXchange CIO Angelic Gibson and CISO Christina Quaine are bridging the gap between IT and security by drawing on their experiences as women rising the ranks in IT.

Pandemic-led jump in homeworking heightens need for more cyber security analysts