How to Fix the Diversity Gap in Cybersecurity

Women make up just 11 percent and minorities are slightly less than 12 percent of the cybersecurity workforce. Coming from a nonprofit background, which is an industry with a high diversity, to one where it is so unbalanced—it's disheartening and dis...

Women make up just 11 percent and minorities are slightly less than 12 percent of the cybersecurity workforce. Coming from a nonprofit background, which is an industry with a high diversity, to one where it is so unbalanced—it's disheartening and disappointing. I've connected with persons who are underrepresented in the field, and many after spending years in cybersecurity are leaving the field. From their shared experiences as well as my own, it is clear that the cybersecurity space needs to get real about the lack of diversity in the space, and the necessity to make changes as we approach the estimated shortage of 1.5 million cybersecurity professionals in 2019. In this talk, we will discuss our brains and how we label and prejudge, hear experiences of underrepresented people in the space, what can be done to fill the gap, and how to increase and retain the number of qualified candidates in cybersecurity.