Organised by Eskenzi PR in media partnership with the IT Security Guru, the Most Inspiring Women in Cyber Awards aim to shed light on the remarkable women in our industry. The following is a feature on one of 2022’s Top 20 women selected by an esteemed panel of judges. Presented in a Q&A format, the nominee’s answers are written in their own words with minor edits made by the editor for readability and where relevant, supplemented with additional commentary by their nominator.
This year, the awards are sponsored by Beazley, BT, KPMG and KnowBe4.
Caroline Rivett, Partner, KPMG
What does your job role entail?
It involved working with clients in the pharmaceutical industry to improve their security and privacy, as well as developing and growing team members.
How did you get into the cybersecurity industry?
I started off in 1995 assessing access controls (RACF, ACF2) in mainframes to help the financial audit. It developed from there.
What is one of the biggest challenges you have faced as a woman in the tech/cyber industry and how did you overcome it?
One of the biggest challenges is getting back into full time employment after having spent eight years out looking after my two children. Very few organisations wanted to talk with someone with that long a gap on their resume.
What are your top three greatest accomplishments you have achieved during your career so far?
- Co-founding and then selling a start-up.
- Spending eight years as a Board member in the NHS – truly the most interesting work I’ve done to date.
- Growing and mentoring people who were disadvantaged by their demographics.
What are you doing to support other women, and/or to increase diversity, in the tech/cyber industry?
I actively mentor a number of women in my organisation and I encourage the firm and its recruitment agencies to look more broadly for cyber / tech skills rather than the usual channels (which feels a little lazy to be honest). I have also found and seen that recruitment of one female in a senior leadership position will often encourage more to join since they can see that they will be supported.
What is one piece of advice you would give to girls/women looking to enter the cybersecurity industry?
Come and join us – we need diversity of thinking and diversity of approach.
