These Are Some Interesting Innovations That Have Come From Women In Cyber

Cybersecurity

The cybersecurity sector in the UK is experiencing significant growth, with job numbers increasing from 28,500 in 2021 to 65,000 in 2024. However, the representation of women in this field has seen a decline, dropping from 24% in 2021 to 17% in 2024. This data is based on a survey conducted by Socura using Office for National Statistics data. The survey also revealed a ratio of one cybersecurity professional for every 86 businesses, highlighting a significant shortfall of over 93,000 professionals as reported by ISC2.

Support Networks for Women in Cybersecurity

Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) is an organization dedicated to increasing the participation of women in the cybersecurity sector. It provides mentoring programs, career fairs, virtual and in-person events, and offers a community portal, interest groups, and a job board.

Another initiative is the Women in Cyber Programme by PGI, supported by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. This 12-week training and mentoring course ensures job placement for participants and is designed to reduce training costs and staff turnover while addressing employer knowledge gaps.

Contributions of Women in Cybersecurity

Despite the decline in representation, women continue to contribute significantly to the field of cybersecurity. Notable innovations include the launch of Microsoft’s bug bounty program by Katie Moussouris and Elham Tabassi’s work on biometric evaluation standards at NIST. Inioluwa Deborah Raji has made significant strides in algorithmic auditing to identify biases in AI systems, contributing to cyber threat intelligence.

Ruth Healey, President of Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland, acknowledges the historical contributions of women like Ada Lovelace, the world’s first computer programmer. She emphasizes the ongoing role women play in developing innovative encryption methods and AI-driven threat detection, bringing diverse perspectives to the field.

Caz Brett, Senior Director of Product at Smartsheet, highlights the importance of user-friendly security solutions. Her team has developed governance and audit tools that simplify data management for users without specialized cybersecurity knowledge. The organization plans to expand auditing capabilities and introduce secure login features to enhance user trust and engagement.