The way Janell Straach sees it, the cybersecurity profession has an image problem, and it’s keeping women out of the field at a time when the industry needs all the workers it can get.
Straach says female students, when asked to describe cybersecurity work, continue to think of a guy in a hoodie alone at a keyboard. They see disproportionately few women on the job, particularly in the senior ranks. And some still get harassed at conferences, despite codes of conduct meant to discourage inappropriate behavior.
Granted, the first image isn’t accurate and hostile experiences aren’t the norm, Straach says. Yet both perceptions persist.
And the sense of too few women in the field? That, Straach says, is actually true.
More Stories
Whistleblower: DOGE Siphoned NLRB Case Data
A security architect with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) alleges that employees from Elon Musk‘s Department of Government Efficiency...
Friday Squid Blogging: Live Colossal Squid Filmed
A live colossal squid was filmed for the first time in the ocean. It’s only a juvenile: a foot long....
Midnight Blizzard Targets European Diplomats with Wine Tasting Phishing Lure
Russian state actor Midnight Blizzard is using fake wine tasting events as a lure to spread malware for espionage purposes,...
Age Verification Using Facial Scans
Discord is testing the feature: “We’re currently running tests in select regions to age-gate access to certain spaces or user...
NTLM Hash Exploit Targets Poland and Romania Days After Patch
An NTLM hash disclosure spoofing vulnerability that leaks hashes with minimal user interaction has been observed being exploited in the...
Senators Urge Cyber-Threat Sharing Law Extension Before Deadline
Bipartisan support grows in Congress to extend Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act for 10 years Read More