Women in CyberSecurity

Last updated

Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) [1] [2] is a 501(c)(3) non-profit aimed at supporting the recruitment, retention and advancement of women in cybersecurity. [3] It is a global community of men and women dedicated to bringing talented women and under-represented groups together to fill the cybersecurity jobs gap [4] and make the field of cybersecurity more inclusive. [5] [6] [7]

Contents

History

Women in CyberSecurity was founded in 2013 by Ambareen Siraj [8] from Tennessee Tech University through funding from the National Science Foundation. [9] In less than ten years, the organization has grown into a leading alliance between academia, government, and industry. WiCyS is working to improve diversity and pipeline in the cybersecurity workforce and it does so through numerous initiatives supported by Strategic Partners and more than 500 volunteers.

Women in CyberSecurity' executive director is Lynn Dohm. [10] [11] [12]

Annual Conference

Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) is recognized for the annual cybersecurity conference supporting women in computer sciences. [13] The first conference took place in Nashville, Tennessee. in 2014. The conference was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation and provided funding for 100 attendees but had approximately 350 attendees due to an extension that was sponsored by 28 organizations.

This flagship conference [14] is the largest cybersecurity conference with equal representation from industry professionals, academia, and students. [15] It is consistently listed in the top cybersecurity conferences to attend each year. [16] [17] [18] The conference is focused on recruiting, retaining, and promoting women in cybersecurity, providing an opportunity to network and learn [19] from each other [20] and presents research on cybersecurity and technical topics, as well as diversity. [21] [22]

In 2023 the conference grew to over 2,100 attendees and was sponsored by Bloomberg, Fortinet, Raytheon Technologies, Optum, Amazon Web Services, Google, Cisco, Deloitte, SentinelOne, GE, Carnegie Mellon University and the National Security Agency. The organization continues to gain support from notable names in technology as additional companies choose to commit to solving gender gaps. [23] [24]

Initiatives

Women in CyberSecurity has a variety of initiatives and resources to help women aspiring to a career in cybersecurity or those already in the field. Initiatives include professional affiliates, student internship programs, veterans assistance, mentor/mentee programs and apprentice programs.[ citation needed ]

Student Chapters

Women in CyberSecurity has over 260 student chapters in sixteen countries. Student chapters work in their school's community to promote the recruitment, retention and advancement of women students in cybersecurity. At least one Chapter representative is awarded a student scholarship to attend the WiCyS Annual Conference each year. A partnership with Microsoft will expand the number of countries participating in student chapters to 23. [25]

Training Programs

In partnership with (ISC)2, Women in CyberSecurity offers a Certified in Cybersecurity certification for underrepresented populations. In partnership with the SANS Institute, Women in CyberSecurity offers a Security Training Scholarship for Women in CyberSecurity members seeking cybersecurity employment. The scholarship is funded by Google, [26] Bloomberg, and Craig Newmark Philanthropies. [27] WiCyS also offers a WiCyS Fortinet NSE4 certification [28] and a Cyber Defense Challenge program with the Target cybersecurity team. [29]

Related Research Articles

Fortinet, Inc. is a cybersecurity company with headquarters in Sunnyvale, California. The company develops and sells security solutions like firewalls, endpoint security and intrusion detection systems. Fortinet has offices located all over the world.

The National Cybersecurity Center (NCC) was founded in 2016 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was started from a vision of then Governor John Hickenlooper, in coordination with several people from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) and the community. The NCC serves both public and private organizations and individuals through training, education, and research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Computer security conference</span> Convention for individuals involved in computer security

A computer security conference is a convention for individuals involved in computer security. They generally serve as meeting places for system and network administrators, hackers, and computer security experts. Common activities at hacker conventions may include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Xie</span> American billionaire businessman (born 1963)

Ken Xie is an American billionaire businessman who founded Systems Integration Solutions (SIS), NetScreen, and Fortinet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palo Alto Networks</span> American technology company

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. is an American multinational cybersecurity company with headquarters in Santa Clara, California. The core product is a platform that includes advanced firewalls and cloud-based offerings that extend those firewalls to cover other aspects of security. The company serves over 70,000 organizations in over 150 countries, including 85 of the Fortune 100. It is home to the Unit 42 threat research team and hosts the Ignite cybersecurity conference. It is a partner organization of the World Economic Forum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyber Security Agency</span> Singaporean government agency

The Cyber Security Agency (CSA) is a government agency under the Prime Minister's Office, but is managed by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information of the Government of Singapore. It provides centralised oversight of national cyber security functions and works with sector leads to protect Singapore's Critical Information Infrastructure (CII), such as the energy and banking sectors. Formed on 1 April 2015, the agency also engages with various industries and stakeholders to heighten cyber security awareness as well as to ensure the development of Singapore's cyber security. It is headed by the Commissioner of Cybersecurity, David Koh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tarah Wheeler</span> American cybersecurity executive and diversity activist (born 1979)

Tarah Marie Wheeler is an American technology and cybersecurity author, public speaker, computer security professional, and executive. She is currently CEO of Red Queen Dynamics and Senior Fellow of Global Cyber Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, and she is the author of Women in Tech.

The Virginia Cyber Range is an educational and research institute funded by a $4-million grant from the Commonwealth of Virginia to promote education in cybersecurity across the state. Currently, the Cyber Range is based out of the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anomali</span> American cybersecurity company

Anomali Inc. is an American cybersecurity company that develops and provides threat intelligence products. In 2023, the company moved into providing security analytics powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

Caroline Wong is an American chief cybersecurity leader who has worked to advance software security programs and promote the mission, vision, and values D&I in cybersecurity. Throughout her career, Wong has been working to "boost the number of women in the field" and advocate for workplace equality. She regularly speaks at industry events and in publications such as The Washington Post and CBS News, and publishes editorial articles on topics such as DevSecOps alignment, infosec best practices, diversity in cybersecurity, and women in tech.

Internet security awareness or Cyber security awareness refers to how much end-users know about the cyber security threats their networks face, the risks they introduce and mitigating security best practices to guide their behavior. End users are considered the weakest link and the primary vulnerability within a network. Since end-users are a major vulnerability, technical means to improve security are not enough. Organizations could also seek to reduce the risk of the human element. This could be accomplished by providing security best practice guidance for end users' awareness of cyber security. Employees could be taught about common threats and how to avoid or mitigate them.

Andrea M. Matwyshyn is an American law professor and engineering professor at The Pennsylvania State University. She is known as a scholar of technology policy, particularly as an expert at the intersection of law and computer security and for her work with government. She is credited with originating the legal and policy concept of the Internet of Bodies.

Camille Stewart is an American technology and cybersecurity attorney, public speaker, and entrepreneur. She served as the Senior Policy advisor for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under the Obama administration from 2015 to 2017 under the Barack Obama administration. She also served as the Head of Product Security Strategy Google after serving as the Lead for Security Policy & Election Integrity, Google Play & Android at Google.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capture the flag (cybersecurity)</span> Computer security exercise

Capture the Flag (CTF) in computer security is an exercise in which participants attempt to find text strings, called "flags", which are secretly hidden in purposefully-vulnerable programs or websites. They can be used for both competitive or educational purposes. In two main variations of CTFs, participants either steal flags from other participants or from organizers. A mixed competition combines these two styles. Competitions can include hiding flags in hardware devices, they can be both online or in-person, and can be advanced or entry-level. The game is inspired by the traditional outdoor sport of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wiz (company)</span> Cloud computing security startup

Wiz, Inc. is a cloud security startup headquartered in New York City. The company was founded in January 2020 by Assaf Rappaport, Yinon Costica, Roy Reznik, and Ami Luttwak, all of whom previously founded Adallom. Rappaport is CEO, Costica is VP of Product, Reznik is VP of Engineering, and Luttwak is CTO. The company's platform analyzes computing infrastructure hosted in Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, and Kubernetes for combinations of risk factors that could allow malicious actors to gain control of cloud resources and/or exfiltrate valuable data.

Cyber Ireland is a business cluster organisation that connects businesses, educational institutions and the state to support the growing cyber security industry in Ireland, which consisted of over 60 domestic and 40 multinational cyber-security companies in 2018. Launched in 2019 by the IDA and Enterprise Ireland's Regional Technology Cluster Fund, Cyber Ireland had over 180 members as of the start of 2022 including Johnson Controls International, Dell EMC, IBM, McAfee, McKesson and Trend Micro. Cyber Ireland was the first business cluster to be formed in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Hat Middle East and Africa</span> Cybersecurity convention in Saudi Arabia

Black Hat Middle East and Africa, formerly @HACK, is a three-day cybersecurity and hacking convention held annually in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during Riyadh Season. It is one of the largest conventions in its industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams</span> Engineering societies based in the United States

The Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) is a global forum of incident response and security teams. They aim to improve cooperation between security teams on handling major cybersecurity incidents. FIRST is an association of incident response teams with global coverage.

Intel 471 is a cybersecurity company that specializes in providing actionable threat intelligence to organizations worldwide. It was founded in 2014 by Jason Passwaters and Mark Arena. Intel 471 Inc. is incorporated in Wilmington, Delaware, US.

References

  1. "Trademark Status & Document Retrieval". tsdr.uspto.gov. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  2. "Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS)". www.guidestar.org. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  3. "No More Hackers in Hoodies". Digital Privacy News. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  4. "The cybersecurity talent shortage: The outlook for 2023". Cybersecurity Dive. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  5. Stackpole, Beth. "IT leaders uplift women to fill tech talent gaps". CIO. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  6. Pratt, Mary K. (2022-03-24). "How WiCyS is taking on security's image problem". CSO Online. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  7. "Women make up just 24% of the cyber workforce. CISA wants to fix that". www.cbsnews.com. 20 March 2022. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  8. "Tennessee Tech's Ambareen Siraj Honored for Diversity". The Tennessee Tribune. 2020-11-05. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  9. "NSF Award Search: Award#1303441 - Collaborative Proposal: Capacity Building in Cybersecurity: Broadening Participation of Women In Cybersecurity through Women in Cybersecurity Conference & Professional Developm". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  10. "MOJO Maker for Womxn in Tech: The Power of Belonging with WiCyS Executive Director Lynn Dohm (S2E19) on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  11. Development, PodBean. "Bringing Diverse Voices Into Cybersecurity with Lynn Dohm, Executive Director, Women in Cybersecurity (WiCys) | Breaking Changes". breakingchanges.podbean.com. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  12. "BoC #38: WiCys Executive Director, Lynn Dohm". Business of Cyber. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  13. "The Best Women Cybersecurity Conferences 2021 - 2022". Cybersecurity Conferences 2020 – 2021. 2020-07-15. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  14. Scott, Kirsten (2022-03-08). "#IWD2022: Women in Cybersecurity: Why We Need to Inspire the Younger Generation". Infosecurity Magazine. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  15. "COSE on LinkedIn: The 9th annual Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) Conference is happening". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  16. "The Top 20 Cybersecurity Conferences to Attend in 2020". www.securitymagazine.com. Retrieved 2022-03-06.
  17. Writer, Senior. "20 worthwhile conferences for women in tech". CIO. Retrieved 2022-03-06.
  18. "Top 30 cybersecurity conferences of 2022". www.securitymagazine.com. Retrieved 2022-03-06.
  19. Uchill, Joe (2021-09-20). "What women talk about when women talk about their cybersecurity jobs". www.scmagazine.com. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  20. Eddy, Nathan (2021-09-03). "Women Make Gains in Cybersecurity, But Gaps Remain". Security Boulevard. Retrieved 2022-03-06.
  21. "INROADS". ACM Inroads. 5 (4). 2014. doi:10.1145/2684721.
  22. Gonzalez, Matthew D. (2015). "Building a Cybersecurity Pipeline to Attract, Train, and Retain Women". Business Journal for Entrepreneurs (3): 24–41.
  23. Cakalli, Paulina (2022-03-02). "3 Ways to Expand Gender Diversity in Cybersecurity". Dark Reading. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  24. Paoli, Chris; March 11, 2022. "Microsoft's Commitment To Addressing the Gender Gap in Cybersecurity". Redmondmag. Retrieved 2022-03-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  25. "Closing the cybersecurity skills gap – Microsoft expands efforts to 23 countries". The Official Microsoft Blog. 2022-03-23. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  26. Kelly, Rhea (July 21, 2021). "Women's Cybersecurity Training Program Expands with Google Support -". Campus Technology. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  27. "Google, Bloomberg and Facebook pledge support for second year of Security Training Scholarship Program for women". ZDNET. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  28. Rashotte, Rob (2022-09-06). "Calling Women to Join the Cybersecurity Field". CSO Online. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  29. "WiCyS Members Now Have Access to Cyber Defense Challenge Through Target". Dark Reading. 2022-03-25. Retrieved 2023-02-09.