Women in Cybersecurity

My path to cybersecurity looks more like a winding road than a straight line, but it’s the influential role models and valuable information I consumed with every turn that paved my path towards a career in cybersecurity – specifically privacy. I fell into secure networking by chance. I was attending…

Due to the high-profile data breaches, cybersecurity has become a household word. Think back to just one month ago, when the data breach at Equifax exposed the personal information for 145.5 million consumers – almost half of all Americans. At Cisco, we know our customers and other business leaders…

Nearly 30 years ago, I attended the first of what would be hundreds of information security conferences throughout my career. I was astonished to be one of only a handful of females in a sea of men – our career goals were the same, but I had a steep climb compared to my male counterparts. I entered…

Note to self: You ARE a woman in tech. You ARE part of the 11% of women in cybersecurity. You DO make an impact. You’re not alone – you have the #WeAreCisco fam behind you. Don’t ever, EVER forget that. For some time, I never considered myself a woman in tech because I did not hav…

This blog is the third in a series of posts sharing perspectives from Cisco women in security. Previous blogs featured Michele Guel, Engineer and Chief Security Architect and Michelle Dennedy, Chief Privacy Officer. When the public thinks of cybersecurity we often envision people sitting in dark roo…

Leonardo Da Vinci once said, “It had long come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” Now is the time for women to make things happen. We have created a digital world knitted together by millions of connecte…

This blog is the first in a series of posts featuring perspectives from Cisco women in security. Next month’s blog will feature Chief Privacy Officer, Michelle Dennedy. When I started my information security career at NASA’s Ames Research Center in 1988, there were very few women in the field. In f…

An issue I can relate to – the lack of women in cybersecurity. While women represented 25% of computing professionals in 2015, they only represented 10% of the information security professions. Cisco gives us time to volunteer to make a difference in the world where we have a personal stake. I put m…

The cybersecurity industry is one of change and disruption. The ability not only to sustain, but to flourish, over a 26-year career in this field requires a special level of dedication. Michele D. Guel, winner of the 2016 ABIE Award for Leadership, exemplifies that dedication, tirelessly devoting he…