Creating Connections: Making a difference.

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I cannot believe how quickly this year is coming to a close. The pandemic definitely altered our perception of time, wasn't it just 2019? At this time of year, I love to take stock and plan (who am I kidding–I always love to plan!). At any rate, I like to look back and see what I've accomplished and find some time to be thankful for where I am, even if it is not exactly where I had planned to be. I am so thankful that many of us were able to start gathering together in person again in 2022, and that we were able to welcome so many of you to our 2022 Women in Cybersecurity panel and reception. I hope you were able to make many connections. For those of you who were unable to join us, you can watch the videos of our panel and our event remarks including the unveiling of our 2022 art piece by artist Marcia Wolfson Ray, and the champagne toast by Kathleen Smith. Also, in that planning theme of mine, mark your calendars for October 19, 2023 when we plan to hold our 2023 Women in Cybersecurity event at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC.

Yesterday was my favorite day of the holiday season: GivingTuesday. Of all of the hype around the holiday season, I find GivingTuesday to be a true gift. It is time to slow down, take stock of what is important to myself personally and professionally, and take some action for others. Make a difference. This year is no different. For those unfamiliar, "GivingTuesday was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. GivingTuesday was born and incubated at the 92nd Street Y and its Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact in New York City. GivingTuesday is now an independent nonprofit and a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity."

I am excited to share we are once again offering a pay-it-forward type of gift to you, our women in cybersecurity community, in honor of the spirit of Giving Tuesday. I am giving 10 free 1-year subscriptions to our CyberWire Pro, two each to five members of our audience. CyberWire Pro, or CWPro, offers exclusive podcasts, briefings, articles, and events. You have access to ad-free versions of our public podcasts, and our popular Quarterly Analyst Calls which are live webcasts discussing critical events of the last 90 days. The next one is coming up in just a few weeks? Why would one person need two memberships? Well, there's the catch. You knew there had to be one. Each recipient must pay it forward and give the second membership to a student pursuing a cybersecurity education, or a mentee they work with who is new to the field. Interested? Please email me and if you are one of the first five to do so, the memberships are yours!

I hope you all find a way to make a difference everyday. As a woman in the cybersecurity industry, I know that you do! Cheers!

Had some great experiences making a difference as a woman in cybersecurity? We’d love to hear about them. Please email us and we may feature it in our next newsletter.

From promotion to protection.

By Bat El Azerad, CEO and Co-founder of novoShield

How I moved from a career in marketing to become a cybersecurity CEO.

Most of us at one point or another have probably considered making a career change. Either due to the desire for a more purposeful day-to-day, a chance to explore an industry that we are passionate about, or to feel like we’re contributing to solving a vital societal issue. For me, it was a combination of all these reasons alongside casting an eye to the future and seeing the upwards trajectory of cybersecurity. After almost two decades in senior marketing roles, I decided to dedicate the next stage of my life to spearheading the development of cutting-edge cybersecurity technology for mobile phones. I’m extremely proud of our product and what I personally have achieved. I operate in a versatile and exciting ecosystem, one which has made me realize both the fortunes and hazards on the path. Cybersecurity is an area we should all be more cognizant of in our roles, whatever they may be. Read the full article.

Welcoming women in cybersecurity. 

By Kalla Lavender, Cybersecurity professional, tech enthusiast, and writer

Women make up just 24% of the workforce in Cybersecurity according to ISC2, but why is that? As a young lady with interests in computers and coding, growing up, it was difficult to find other girls with similar interests. Whenever I expressed these interests, women in their wiser years would tell me that I could not enjoy such things and to find “more ladylike” hobbies. This seemingly innocuous advice is often enough to discourage young women from attempting to pursue a career in the STEM field, and is one example of why women are so woefully underrepresented in it. If we do not address the lack of awareness, and incorrect perception about cybersecurity, then women will continue to be under represented. Read the full article.

Would you like to be featured in a future issue of the Creating Connections newsletter? We are currently accepting submissions for pieces written by women, about women, and information on women in cyber related events. Simply email us to get started. 

A food blog discovery: Advanced Persistent Treats.

By CyberWire team

While we were preparing for our Thanksgiving meals, the team at the CyberWire came across a fantastic cybersecurity-themed food blog by Tracy Maleeff (aka InfoSecSherpa). Tracy’s food blog is called Advanced Persistent Treats. The blog description reads: “Cybersecurity in the streets. Baking things on a cookie sheet.” Currently, the blog, which Tracy started in 2018, has 26 recipes. She numbers each one as APTx (recipe number). She started with APT1: Piña Colada Pancakes and recently posted APT26: Dark Chocolate-Pecan Banana Bread. Some favorites that caught our eye are: APT7: Banana-Caramel Cake and APT16: Gin & Tonic Cranberry Sauce. We encourage you to check Tracy’s blog out and let us know what recipes you tried out! Thanks to Tracy for permitting us to share. 

A women in cybersecurity podcast discovery: HerHax podcast.

By Jennifer Eiben, Senior Producer, CyberWire

Podcasts are the majority of my professional life. Promoting women in cybersecurity on our podcasts and raising the level of diversity across our network is always at the forefront of my mind. I recently came across a new podcast by women in cybersecurity for all. It is called HerHax podcast. Their description: "HerHax Podcast was founded by a group of women who are passionate about the field of cybersecurity and want to spread the word about everything cyber! From the history of women in cryptography to modern day workplace tips, how to stay safe online or how to pwn your way to the top of the CTF scoreboard, come listen to our podcast and join our Discord Channel!" I encourage you to check it out.

CyberWire Daily

Producer Liz Irvin takes us on a visit to the CyberWire’s Women in Cyber Security event. 

Betsy Carmelite from Booz Allen Hamilton on adversary-informed defense. 

CyberWire Space Correspondent Maria Varmazis has an analysis of the Starlink situation in Ukraine. 

Andrea Little Limbago from Interos addresses accountability for breaches.

Guest Michelle Amante from the Partnership for Public Service share details on their Cybersecurity Talent Initiative. 

Ann Johnson from Afternoon Cyber Tea speaks with Dr. Ryan Louie about the growing issue of mental illness among cybersecurity professionals. 

UK Correspondent Carole Theriault examines cross border money laundering. 

Guests Valerie Abend and Lisa O'Connor from Accenture share a look at the difference in how women and men pursue the top cyber leadership roles.

Malek Ben Salem from Accenture offers thoughts on future-proofing cloud security.

UK Correspondent Carole Theriault looks at long term lessons learned from the 2019 Capital One breach.

UK Correspondent Carole Theriault on digital echo chambers and what's in it for us. 

Nancy Wang from Forta's Alert Logic discusses how she is helping more young women get into the STEM field and leadership positions. 

UK Correspondent Carole Theriault reports on where these kids today are getting their news.

Malek Ben Salem from Accenture on digital identity in Web 3.0. 

Career Notes

Lauren Campanara, a SOC Analyst from ThreatX shares her story as she made the decision to break into cybersecurity after spending twelve years in the cosmetology field. She worked her way through college in a job she did not enjoy and felt trapped in while competing her online degree. She found ThreatX and fell in love with the work she is doing now. Lauren hopes to inspire others, especially women, to consider a challenging and rewarding career in cybersecurity. She shares what it's like to be in a field she was not happy in and how she was the only one standing in her way to achieve her goals. She says "Another huge obstacle worth mentioning is learning to get out of my own way. You are your own worst critic. I learned to be more forgiving of myself." She hopes her story will inspire others to follow their dreams and stop holding themselves back.

Laura Whitt-Winyard, CISO from Malwarebytes, sits down to share her story, beginning with a desire to be a pediatric oncologist that she later discovered was not the path for her. Laura was bouncing around from job to job until she bought her first computer, and a light bulb went off in her head. She set out to make it her goal to learn about this new, interesting field and grow within it. Now as a successful CISO, she wants to make the world more secure and goes from company to company to complete her goal. She considers herself a servant leader whose goal is the greater good. She compares her role to football, explaining that she is not the quarterback, but the center for the team. She believes she is the center that paves the path for the quarterbacks on her team to reduce the noise, to give the quarterback all the tools that they need to do their jobs and do their jobs well. 

Caveat

Christina Montgomery, Vice President and Chief Privacy Officer at IBM, sits down with Ben Yelin to discuss “Privacy Compliance Is Cultural: The Need for Diverse & Inclusive Perspectives in Data Governance & Regulation.” 

Control Loop

Mara Winn (CESER) and Guohui Yuan (EERE) from Department of Energy discuss their report, "Cybersecurity Considerations for Distributed Energy Resources on the U.S. Electric Grid."

Research Saturday

Roya Gordon from Nozomi Networks sits down with Dave to discuss their work "UWB Real Time Locating Systems: How Secure Radio Communications May Fail in Practice."

Afternoon Cyber Tea

Kirsten Davies, chief information security officer at Unilever, joins Ann to discuss the importance of personal resilience, factors contributing to the cyber talent shortage, and strategies that leaders can adopt to improve their people's working conditions and well-being.

SpyCast

Aynne Kokas joins Andrew Hammond to discuss the American struggle with China over data. She is an award-winning author. 

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