At this month’s DTX Manchester, I’ll be taking part in a panel discussion around the importance of inclusion and diversity in cyber recruitment.
For far too long cyber security was seen as a man’s sport. Not only did men take up the majority of leadership roles in the industry, but they were the dominant force at all levels, from the SOC to the sales team.
Unsurprising, this earned the industry an image of a boy’s club, which has been difficult to shake, even today.
Fortunately, however, the industry is slowly waking up to the learning that strength lies in differences, not similarities.
To be truly resilient in today’s digital world, organisations benefit from varying perspectives, backgrounds and genders.
Cyber security is all about problem-solving. It was born out of IT, but it’s no longer just a technical nuisance. Today cyber incidents can shatter an organisation’s survival in minutes, while the impacts of attacks can harm customers, employees and physical processes.
As cyber moves away from its roots in IT, organisations are recognising that when recruiting into their security teams, technical qualifications are not the only prerequisite. Instead, they are bolstering their security teams with problem solvers, multi-taskers, born-leaders, each from varying backgrounds, not just previous roles in cyber.
They are also recognising that security teams need to be diverse to achieve cyber resilience. People must come from different backgrounds, genders and races to tackle the continuously evolving cyber challenges they face today.
When organisations do this, they are bolstered with teams who all approach a problem differently. Instead of looking at a problem and seeing only one solution, diverse teams bring numerous unique ideas, which innovates cyber defences and improves the security of a business.
Diverse teams also nurture inclusivity and encourage more people into the cyber profession. Which should, once and for all, eradicate the boy’s club image the industry has been tainted with. As more non-technical people see their peers enter the industry, they will see these people as role models. If they can do it, so can I.
At DTX Manchester, I will be providing organisations with my advice on how to diversify their cyber recruitment strategies.
I will explain how inclusive teams lead to more resilient organisations. Organisations shouldn’t just look at technical qualifications when hiring for cyber roles, the most innovative and resilient organisations are supported by teams with backgrounds in nursing, dancing, taxi driving, and stay-at-home parents. To tackle today’s evolving cyber threats, we need the perspectives of everyone in society, not just a subset.
Cyber criminals don’t operate by the same rule book, the only similarity they share is their desire to cause harm.
If we want to win the fight against them, we must diversify our pool of defenders – where we think differently, tackle problems uniquely and value the skills and opinions of all backgrounds.
Join me at DTX Manchester on Thursday 23rd May, to hear me participate in a session on how to build a resilient cyber workforce, where teams embrace neurodiversity and value different perspectives to help defend against today’s constantly evolving cyber threats.
