#IWD2024 – ISC2 Leaders Highlight the Contribution of Women in Cybersecurity

nnAcross the week and across multiple time zones, the women leaders ofnISC2 have been contributing to International Women’s Day activities andncelebrating the impact women have on our industry.nn

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nISC2 CEO Clar Rosso may have been on the opposite side of the world and thenopposite end of the global time zone map, but she took advantage of this tontake part in one of the first International Women’s Day events of the globalnday in Australia. The event was hosted by ISACA, Australian InformationnSecurity Association (AISA), AWSN – Australian Women in Security Network andnthe NSW Branch and NSW Cyber Business Exchange.n

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nRosso took part in a panel alongside other women leaders in cybersecuritynincluding Jacqui Kernot, security director at Accenture, Roxanne Pashaei,nCISO of the NSW Rural Fire Service and Alia Moussa, Divisional InformationnSecurity Officer at AUSPAC QBE Insurance.n

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nThe event showed the power of bringing the community together and thenimportance of inclusivity to support progression and equality.n

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n“Organisations that support women in defining goals and creating pathways tonachieve those goals will be more successful in developing women leaders andnincreasing their ranks at senior levels than those organisations that donnot. In addition to individualised plans, organisations should ensureninclusive, equitable systemic policies and practices around flexible work,npay equity, and hiring and advancement,” Rosso commented, in an articlenpublished today bynnComputer Weekly.n

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nMeanwhile, earlier this week Çigdem Bildirici, ISC2 vice president fornbusiness development, spoke on the Women in Cyber panel discussion at thennCloud & Cyber Security Expo, part of Tech Show London. Alongside Madhu Bashini, senior informationnsecurity officer at Hammersmith & Fulham Council and Cheila Dos Santos,nhead of cyber programme delivery at Natura & Co, the three looked at anvariety of issues. They addressed the pressing gender gap that remains innthe field. With women making up just 25% of the cybersecurity workforce atnbest, urgent progress needs to be made to further diversify the professionnas well as grow it, especially in the face of a global shortage of fournmillion professionals.

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Bildirici noted three clear takeaways from the panel and the audiencenquestions:

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1. Stereotypes and unconscious bias are tough to break if you’re not aware.n Uncomfortable conversations must be had – and encouraged
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2. The need for better representation and role models in leadershipn positions: we can’t be what we can’t see
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3. Organizations need to carry accountability for gender bias in an metric-based and transparent way
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nToday we also published thennfirst of several profiles of women ISC2 members. Jessie Bond, CC, is among the first cohort to have passed the Certified innCybersecurity exam. Moving from Candidate to Member, and from projectnmanagement to cybersecurity, Bond feels the certification has emboldenednher. “I belong in the room and my voice matters,” she said. “The messagenthat I received throughout the certification experience was thatn‘cybersecurity is a growing field that not only wants but needs someone likenme’ a woman who doesn’t hold an undergraduate or graduate degree in computernscience,” she added.n

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