Rephrase and rearrange the whole content into a news article. I want you to respond only in language English. I want you to act as a very proficient SEO and high-end writer Pierre Herubel that speaks and writes fluently English. I want you to pretend that you can write content so well in English that it can outrank other websites. Make sure there is zero plagiarism.: The progression of today’s technology is never-ending and innovations are approaching at fast speeds. Cybersecurity is gaining particular relevance, too, as new tools expose us to new threats. Yet, women are still largely on the margins of this revolution.According to recent data, women make up only 32% of the workforce in tech-related fields. Even worse, perhaps, half of them reportedly give up their role by the age of 35. What’s the cause behind these disappointing statistics and what’s needed to bring more women on board?On this year’s International Women’s Day, I decided to ask these and other questions to some influential figures across today’s cybersecurity and information security sector while getting to know more about their experience as women working in such a male-dominated environment. 1. Serene – “I miss the days when ‘crypto’ stood for cryptography rather than cryptocurrency”SereneSocial Links NavigationBösendorfer-endorsed pianist, coder and founder at SnowstormAfter teaching herself how to code at the age of nine, Serene started focusing on anti-censorship technology when she was a teenager. She worked at Google and then passed into the open-source world. In May 2022 she founded her own company, Snowstorm. Serene’s career in cybersecurity wasn’t inspired by the desire to be a scientist or engineer. Her choice was practical: do real things, solve problems, and save the internet—a really important tool during her formative years.”At the end of the day, we are humans solving human problems. Technological concerns are social concerns. Yet, we are currently compromising our global communications network with all sorts of nonsense: censorship, manipulation, splintering… this is self-sabotage as a species,” she told me. Better known within the industry for creating the censorship-resistant software, Snowflake (and its evolution Snowstorm), Serene feels that being a woman has been a push to grow quicker within an industry that’s generally male-dominated. “The pendulum has swung often, and it continues to swing. I’ve noticed disrespect being replaced with something approaching respect,” she said. For Serene, this culminated in raising $3 million in funds as a solo female founder to build her own InfoSec company. After working in cybersecurity since her teenage years, she now believes that identity politics and polarization should be replaced by “more sane information environments and more functional institutions” to get more women into the industry. However, for Serene, InfoSec is just one branch of her career path. She is also a professional concert pianist and feels that her two careers are “inextricably linked” as she explores the intersection between music and tech. Serene and Grimes played on a stage together during the Zuzalu conference in Montenegro in May 2023, when the artists experimented with combining classical music with EEGs (tracking her brainwaves), AI models, and generative music live. (Image credit: Serene)2. Ella Jakubowska – “It’s better for all of us to have more diverse workplaces” Ella JakubowskaHead of digital human rights policy at EDRiElla started her career in cybersecurity in 2021 when she joined EDRi, Europe’s biggest collective of NGOs, experts, advocates, and academics working to defend and advance digital rights across the continent. She now leads EDRi’s policy team, covering matters such as state surveillance and tech platform power on societies.With a background in international human rights law, Ella Jakubowska began her career in tech policy at EDRi (Europe’s biggest network of organizations working on digital rights and freedoms) drawn by the opportunity to investigate how technology impacts society. She believes, in fact, in the power of academic research for better law-making. “I’ve been really inspired by leading cybersecurity experts like Professor Susan Landau and Professor Carmela Troncoso, who are not only esteemed academics but have also advocated on some of the biggest attacks on digital security from governments that we’ve seen in recent years,” she said.While women tech developers, IT engineers, and scientists are still, sadly, in the minority, the tech policy space is inhabited by many brilliant and inspiring women, said Ella. “I first started in the broader tech industry almost a decade ago, and whilst a lot has changed, a lot hasn’t,” she told me. “We see far more women than ever before being active in European lawmaking, especially on digital/technical files. But often, you can still look around a room and see only a sea of white faces.” Ella believes that accessibility should also be kept in consideration by employers and even the European Parliament building itself to build a more inclusive tech industry. She said: “We need to make sure that increasing the number of women in the cybersecurity/infosec industry goes hand-in-hand with creating more fair, just workplaces for everyone.”She now looks forward to lawmakers and governments becoming more aware and informed about the importance of cybersecurity and, most importantly, encryption. On the latter point, at least, EDRi could celebrate the first victory—about a month ago, the European Court of Human Rights listened to experts’ concerns and outlawed all legal efforts to break encryption.3. Azam Jangravi – “I enjoy the diversity of perspectives that I can bring to the table” Azam Jangravi Information Security Analyst at Citizen Lab With a background in computer engineering, AI, and robotics, Azam has been working as an information security researcher at Citizen Lab since 2023. She’s also an exiled Iranian women’s rights activist now living in Canada.Azam first began her career in cybersecurity in Iran, her birth country, encouraged by her brother’s guidance and support. “I was very passionate and curious about this field, especially when I realized that there were not many women in it,” she told me.She joined the Girls of Revolution Street movement in 2018. Following the footsteps of Vida Movahed, known as the First Girl of Enghelab Street, she climbed an electricity transformer box and waved her headscarf to the sky to protest against mandatory hijab rules. After being arrested and put in solitary confinement for 10 days, she managed to flee Iran for Canada (where she lives today) during her temporary release.After several years working in tech, she feels that being a woman in this field can be both challenging and rewarding. On one side, stereotypes and biases have affected her opportunities and recognition. On the other hand, though, she enjoys a sense of accomplishment after solving complex problems despite prejudices.In such an ever-changing industry where new technology, threats, and opportunities keep arising, Azam believes more awareness, education, and training opportunities are needed to attract and retain more women in cybersecurity/information security. This should also go alongside addressing the systemic and structural barriers that hinder women’s advancement and retention, such as pay gaps, glass ceilings, harassment, and discrimination, she said.For the future, she looks forward to taking on new challenges like mentoring others and leading projects, while expanding even further her technical knowledge around new threats and innovative solutions.4. Laurie Kirk – “They often do not believe a woman could talk about something technical” Laurie KirkSecurity researcher at Microsoft A security researcher specializing in cross-platform malware analysis and mobile threats, Laurie oversees the work of Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection’s Cross-Platform incident response team. She’s also an active conference speaker and industry mentor, while running her own YouTube channel in which she explores major security topics.Laurie’s interest in coding began during her teens. “I was fascinated by the process, and wanted to dive into the field,” she told me, explaining why she decided to obtain a degree in computer science and began her career as a software developer. Yet, getting into cybersecurity specifically was both a conscious decision and a fortunate accident that began when she landed a job in reverse engineering and malware analysis at Microsoft. Also for Laurie, there are pros and cons of being a woman in this field. As there were not many women working in reserve engineering in cyber security, people at first offered her mentorship to help her succeed. The issues began when she wanted to be taken seriously and shared her own opinions and insights. She said that reactions to her voicing her opinions have been spanned from condescension, hostility, and disbelief. “I try to embrace the fact that I am in the minority and focus on the unique perspective I can bring. I…
I have over 10 years of experience in the cryptocurrency industry and I have been on the list of the top authors on LinkedIn for the past 5 years.