Overcoming gender barriers to become a cybersecurity leader
By Stephanie Benoit-Kurtz, University of Phoenix
When Stephanie Benoit-Kurtz started in IT/data security 25 years ago it was considered the province of men, she was not invited to decision-making meetings. The doors of gender acceptance opened incrementally over time, but women continue to be underrepresented (just 20% of U.S. tech jobs were held by women in 2018). It took Benoit-Kurtz 15 years to receive an invitation to the table. “I had tons of people tell me I didn’t belong. Now, I sit at the table because I’m comfortable, because I forced my way there,” says Benoit-Kurtz. “Women (and minorities) have to have strong grit and tenacity to get to that place.” Read more about how Benoit-Kurtz overcame gender barriers to become a cybersecurity leader.
In the clear: what it's like working as a woman in the cleared community.
By Kelsea Bond, The CyberWire
Why hello ladies! It’s great to be back! ICYMI, I’ve been on maternity leave since mid-October. I would love to give a huge shout out to my colleagues here at the CyberWire for being so helpful and supportive of me during my leave. I even got a congrats from my Dave on the Daily Podcast!
Anyways, today I’m going to be talking about an amazing panel interview we recently aired featuring the three talented young women from Northrop Grumman: Priyanka, Lauren, and Ashley, moderated by Kathleen Smith. I strongly urge anyone considering a career in cyber to listen, as it is crammed with excellent takeaways and perspectives. They begin the conversation with each of their experiences and how they entered into the field, then dive deeper into their careers in a mission-oriented culture. If you’ve read any of my pieces in this newsletter before, you know I’m a sucker for some good quotes. I jotted down about 20 quotes from this episode, but here are my top three favorites:
Lauren: “Someone once said, ‘If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together.’ And I think with all of our missions we want to go far and we want to create the best lasting solution that we possibly can.”
Priyanka: “Communicate when you don't know something. That also goes with open-mindedness. Don't assume that you understand the way to solve it, because maybe in the past you solved it a certain way, but maybe your teammate has a better way of doing it. So, be open-minded, admit if you don't know something, because you don't want to ruin a mission because you're too embarrassed to communicate that you don't know something or you're too scared to communicate it.”
Ashley: “It's really impossible to read every single new study that's out. For one, our group does an every other week machine learning algorithms reading club, where someone will suggest an AI paper to read and everyone will read it, and then we have a group discussion... All these different people suggest different articles to read and it really helps all of us keep more appraised at what's going on and what is going on in the areas that we might not specifically be involved in ourselves.”
My favorite part was the common theme of the cybersecurity industry being community-based. It’s often mentioned in the episode that swapping information and ideas, being part of a team, being open-minded with others, and encouraging one another is imperative in each of their roles and ultimately in this industry that is ever-changing and evolving. That just sticks with me, and I know it’s something we all regularly need reminders of.
You don’t want to miss this, it’s definitely one of my favorites. I’m not even kidding. Go listen!
We belong.
By Gina Johnson, The CyberWire
One of my favorite university experiences was when a professor assigned the class the task of recommending a non-fiction book to the rest of the class. The only rule is that the book had to be relevant to our class, so that we could talk about it and use the information that we read in discussion. One book that I did make note of, but sadly didn’t have the chance to read all the way through, was Jane Frankland’s “InSecurity: Why a Failure to Attract and Retain Women in Cybersecurity is Making Us All Less Safe”. Since my life is no longer dictated by lecture schedules and project deadlines, I have decided to revisit this book. It’s no secret that cybersecurity is a male-dominated industry, and Ms. Frankland makes a very convincing case for why that is an issue that must be rectified. Before I began my studies, I always considered cybersecurity to be a challenging industry to work in, and I will admit that it never really crossed my mind that it would be because I am a woman; I was more concerned with the fact that I am not a very “tech-minded” person. Sure, I can use a computer, cell phone, and tablet with the best of them, but early in my journey, I was awfully naive in thinking that working in cybersecurity required someone who could code, program, or possess any of the other skills that come to mind when thinking of the stereotypical cybersecurity employee. As it turns out, despite a quickly evolving mindset, Ms. Frankland’s book definitely challenged my naiveté. This book offers personal narratives, sociological insights, and research to explain why the numbers of women in the cybersecurity sector are declining, why women are so important in cybersecurity, and takes a deep dive to inform readers how disturbing the statistics are. She highlights the lack of females in cybersecurity being portrayed in popular culture, and even four years after this book was published, I am hard pressed to think of more than a couple of women in tech and cyber-focused roles in many of the shows and movies that my family watches. As a newcomer to the industry, I know that we can, and must, do better at bringing more women into the field, and retaining them. There is a lot that can change and must change. The citizens of this world deserve representation in every space, and understanding that equal and equitable in cybersecurity makes us all much safer.
How about you? Read any good books lately that you’d like to talk about in a future issue? We would love to hear about books you feel make a difference to the industry and, in particular, women in cybersecurity. Please email us your suggestions.
