On the cover of the December 2021 issue of Paperjam, WCF president reflects on her life journey between Europe and Canada and her passion for IT, which is not limited to technology.
To read the full interview, the issue is available available on newsstands from Thursday, November 25. The edition can also be checked online on Paperjam’s website.
With “Women in Cyber Force”, how do you convince more women to take an interest in the world of cybersecurity?
It is nothing to say that women are underrepresented. Our association wants to carry out actions at the European level to promote the subject to young girls and women who want to eventually reorient their careers. We need not only gender diversity, but also a diversity of profiles. Among our next actions, we aim to intervene in secondary schools to present our professions. We obviously want to go further by sharing our expertise so that cybersecurity concepts are addressed in school. At the same time, we are going to develop a whole aspect of events and networking in order to allow women active in the field to strengthen their connections with each other and to train. We will of course be open to all those who are interested in the subject. Behind the scenes, we are already feeling a strong interest, which motivates us to continue to mount our actions.
What would you recommend to a young girl to begin studies leading to cybersecurity?
I would already say quite simply that the shortage of talent forecast for the next five years by the CISOs in place portends many employment opportunities for the young people who will enter the labor market. The cybersecurity professions bring constant discovery to all those who are curious to discover new horizons and above all they allow them to enrich themselves enormously on a human level. I have had the chance to meet inspiring managers and great colleagues throughout my career and I am not an isolated case. I would advise young students who want to get involved in cybersecurity to surround themselves with one or more mentors to discover an industry that is neither a “black box” nor a universe formed only by coders. Cyber security has evolved so much that it covers a plethora of technical and behavioral skills. I truly believe that the new generation can also make a difference in our field through their vision, skills and experience of the world that we do not have in our time. If you believe in yourself, the possibilities are endless.