October is designated National Cyber Security Awareness Month, and while the month may be coming to an end, the fight against cyber attackers will continue to intensify. This year’s cybersecurity awareness month theme is “Do Your Part. #BeCyberSmart.” At Semperis, we work hard to build a culture of cybersecurity awareness with our employees, which is crucial, especially in today’s work-from-home environment.
Another mission that’s dear to our hearts is diversity in the workplace. As everyone knows, there exists a severe gender gap in the field of cybersecurity. In 2019, women made up only 20 percent of the cybersecurity workforce. Semperis doesn’t accept that. If you ask anyone working at Semperis, they’ll tell you about our amazing staff, comprised of over 40 percent of women across multiple functions like research and development, customer success, and sales and marketing.
To celebrate cybersecurity awareness month, we have compiled a list of 10 amazing women you should follow. The women on this list bring unique perspectives to the industry, each on the rise and worth paying attention to. As the founder of The New York Information Security Meetup, the largest independent security group in the country, I’ve had the opportunity to meet all of these women. Even better, I’ve actually conducted video interviews with most of them, which I’ll link below.
Alethe Denis, VP at Dragonfly Security
LinkedIn | Twitter @AletheDenis
Betsy Bevilacqua, VP Information Security at Chainalysis Inc.
LinkedIn | Twitter @HEALTHeSECURITY
Jules Okafor, CEO and Founder at RevolutionCyber
Jummy Adelakun-Adejuyigbe, Director, IT Security Risk Management at KPMG
Kelly Shortridge, VP of Product Management and Product Strategy at Capsule8
Marci McCarthy, CEO and President of T.E.N
Nicole Becher, Business Information Security Office at S&P Global
LinkedIn | Twitter @thedeadrobots
Sarah Gold, Solutions Engineer at Snyk
Sivan Tehila, Founder of Cyber Ladies NYC
Director of Solution Architecture at Perimeter 81
LinkedIn | Twitter @securitywitch
Tiffany Ricks
CEO at HacWare
LinkedIn | Twitter @tiffanyricks
Speaking of influential women in cybersecurity, be sure to check out the 2020 Hybrid Identity Protection conference keynote speaker, Chris Kubecka, CEO at HypaSec and Distinguished Chair of the Cyber Program at Middle East Institute. The 3rd annual HIP conference began last week, with sessions now available on-demand. Conference programming will reconvene October 27 and 28, with highly technical demonstrations and collaborative workshops designed to advance the skills of IT and cybersecurity professionals charged with defending hybrid identity environments. Other acclaimed speakers include award-winning senior writer at WIRED and author of the book, “Sandworm,” Andy Greenberg, Partner Director of Identity Security at Microsoft, Alex Weinert, world-renowned hacker, Chris Roberts, and many more. For conference details and to sign up for sessions, visit the virtual talk tracks.
