Women are highly underrepresented in the field of cybersecurity.
The problem is more acute outside the U.S. Women are even less well represented in the upper echelons of security leadership.
Only1% of female internet security workersare in senior management positions.
I studyonline crimeandsecurityissues facingconsumers,organizationsandnations.
In my research, I have found that internet security requiresstrategies beyond technical solutions.
Only30% of scientists and engineers in the U.S.are women.
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Women are also generally not presented with opportunities in information technology fields.
Organizations often fail to attempt to recruit women to work in cybersecurity.
Gender bias in job ads further discourages women from applying.
Online cybersecurity job adsoften lack gender-neutral language.
Good security and good business
Boosting womens involvement in information security makes both security and business sense.
Female leaders in this area tend to prioritize important areas that males often overlook.
This is partly due to their backgrounds.
Female internet security professionals put ahigher priority on internal training and educationin security and risk management.
Female internet security professionals are alsoadept at selecting partner organizationsto develop secure software.
They also prefer partners that are willing to perform independent security tests.
Increasing womens participation in cybersecurity is abusiness issueas well as a gender issue.
According to an Ernst & Young report, by 2028 women will control75% of discretionary consumer spending worldwide.
Security considerations like encryption, fraud detection and biometrics are becoming important inconsumers buying decisions.
Product designs require a trade-off between cybersecurity and usability.
Female cybersecurity professionals can make better-informed decisions about such trade-offs for products that are targeted at female customers.
Public-private partnership projects could help solve the problem in the long run.
A computer science teacher, center, helps fifth grade students learn programming.
The girls participate in hackathons and training programs, and get advice, guidance and support from female mentors.
Some of the mentors are from elite technology units of the countrys military.
The participants learn hacking skills, data pipe analysis and the Python programming language.
They also practice simulating cyber-attacks to find potential vulnerabilities.
By 2018,about 2,000 girls participatedin the CyberGirlz Club and the CyberGirlz Community.
In 2017, cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networksteamed up with the Girl Scouts of the USAto develop cybersecurity badges.
The goal is to foster cybersecurity knowledge and develop interest in the profession.
The curriculum includes the basics ofcomputer networks, cyberattacks and online safety.
Professional associations can also foster interest in cybersecurity and help women develop relevant knowledge.
Some industry groups have collaborated with big companies.
Some technology companies have launched programs to foster womens interest in and confidence to pursue internet security careers.
One example isIBM Securitys Women in Security Excelling program, formed in 2015.
Attracting more women to the cybersecurity field requires a range of efforts.
Cybersecurity job ads should be written so that female professionals feel welcome to apply.
Recruitment efforts should focus on academic institutions with high female enrollment.
Corporations should ensure that female employees see cybersecurity as a good option for internal career changes.
And governments should work with the private sector and academic institutions to get young girls interested in cybersecurity.
Increasing womens participation in cybersecurity is good for women, good for business and good for society.
