5 Tips for Women to Break into the Cybersecurity Industry

Breached data. Privacy. Risk. Passwords. Protection. Financial Loss!

Cybersecurity might seem daunting, but it’s actually a bustling industry that’s projected to grow to $270 billion by 2026.

And women need to be a part of it.

To learn more, Jennifer Openshaw, CEO, Girls With Impact spoke with Dr. Margaret Cunningham, a human behavior scientist at Forcepoint, the world’s largest private cybersecurity firm, who was once even “intimidated by math in high school.”

During their conversation, Dr. Cunningham shared five key tips for women to enter and succeed in this industry while distilling how cybersecurity isn’t as daunting as you might think!

1. Apply, even if you only fit just 50% of the description– Research shows that women often won’t apply unless they feel they are 100% qualified — but that’s not the case with men.

Dr. Cunningham wrote a compelling letter and then when she interviewed with the HR department: “I can’t do 60% of the job; I don’t even know what some of the words are.” But she went on to have a candid conversation with HR. She stated, “I focused on what I could do for the company.”

Teens looking for a way to find their passion, or tap into theirs can take the Girls With Impact Academy where they learn how to create their own business or non-profit with the guidance of business coaches over the course of 10 weeks.

2. Don’t let fear of math hold you back — In high school, “I got intimidated in geometry; I failed the first test in my life and balled,” said Cunningham. She backed off, and focused instead on English, taking just the minimum for math. Later, in college, she avoided even challenging herself, fearing she’d be “the dumbest person in the class.” But her interest in psychology led to many questions that required understanding the power of data like — how do we measure other human behavior?

And we have seen this significance among young people, as charted in our “What’s on the Mind’s of GenZ” annual report where 67% of GenZers want to be successful. Download the report to get the full findings.

3. Don’t overlook sales positions — Many women overlook jobs in sales, but they can be great opportunities that leverage women’s knack for building relationships with high income potential and a path to the C-Suite. Other areas that are ripe for women are software development or any type of computer science, along with technical writing. “Women can take these areas by storm,” she says. Plus, you get to meet loads of interesting people.

4. Start-up business opportunities with data — Dr. Cunningham says there’s a host of areas ripe for innovation in and around cybersecurity. This is good news for female entrepreneurs. “Anything that involves classifying or re-organizing information — like documents, language, and location — that hasn’t been done before is just one example.”

5. It’s all getting personal — Dr. Cunningham says the biggest shift in the industry is how “hyper-custom” things are getting. Don’t look at security as caging people — but rather helping us deal with challenges like fishing, weird phone calls and protecting our social security numbers.

“Women belong everywhere,” she adds.

If you’re looking to learn more about cybersecurity, go to Twitter for answers, like Dr. Cunningham does. “Twitter has a great security community,” she says, “Plus, there are lots of certifications and exams.”

To succeed in your career, she advises to “Pick an industry that’s super interesting and then link it to technology, the online world or to security.”