By Priyal Bhosale.
Cybersecurity is a top global priority which will continue to escalate. However, the demographics within the industry are still outdated. The field desperately needs more leadership to support and change in order to attract women into the industry. According to CybersecurityConnect, a significant obstacle is the industry’s failure to attract enough talented women and non-binary gender people. In Australia, women comprise less than 15% of the cybersecurity workforce. It’s time to break these barriers!
Revamp the way we market cybersecurity
If you do a quick image search on ‘Cybersecurity’, you’re presented with pictures of faceless people in hoodies, locks, and lines of technical code – all in dark coloured themes. An example of how cybersecurity is negatively stereotyped as a field that requires people to be highly secretive, technical, and detached. This problem automatically discourages women (and men) from pursuing a career in this field. Successful messaging would also include themes such as collaboration, community, brand building and even leadership influence. Marketing the vast and varied aspects of cybersecurity will also help remove the stigma that being highly technical is a prerequisite to entering the industry.
Set the right standard
Cybercriminals are becoming more creative with their tactics. Companies can no longer afford to recruit only similarly qualified people. It is true that some cybersecurity roles require a thorough knowledge of hardware, software, and networks. But a robust cybersecurity function also requires a strong understanding of the business and the ability to influence and effectively interpret cybersecurity risks, costs, and benefits. An even more powerful cybersecurity function includes people with different backgrounds who bring a variety of perspectives and experiences, which leads to problems being solved more creatively. As quoted by Stephen R. Covey – “Strength lies in differences, not in similarities”.
There is also a dearth of female role-models holding cyber leadership positions, which creates a perception that there is a lack of opportunity and support for women wanting c-suite exposure. Some great companies are leading the way by using their leadership diversity metrics as evidence of their strong cybersecurity capability.
Help more women make the move
The rise of women entering STEM fields is increasing albeit at a scale that is not big enough. Therefore, limiting the hiring of women into cybersecurity only from STEM backgrounds further limits the number of women entering the field. Industry experts are publicly vocal about how this mindset needs to shift and that many skills are transferable. Having a background in HR, customer service, finance, law, etc. can be a great foundation for a rewarding career in cyber. In addition, if companies don’t use a gender-neutral tone and language when advertising projects, job descriptions and internships, they might miss reaching a wider audience.
Prepare for the future in the right manner
Cybersecurity is no longer considered just an ‘IT problem’ but a board-level focus. Regulators expect companies to have cybersecurity woven into every single business process. This has led to a huge global skills shortage which will ultimately threaten not just businesses but also national security. It’s predicted that cybercrime will cost companies worldwide an estimated $10.5 trillion annually by 2025. In addition, the rapid rate of technological advancement will see the creation of newer roles that have not yet been thought of! If the psychological, cultural and process barriers are not removed soon, the talent pool will continue to remain miniscule and non-diverse (a deadly combo) which can lead to disastrous consequences such as compromise of companies and communities.
The more women joining the cybersecurity industry, the more women we’ll have in senior leadership positions. This will radically transform and advance how companies manage cybersecurity and will help inspire more young girls/women to take up careers in cybersecurity, helping to close the gap.
