The recent report Women in the Workplace Prepared by McKinsey in association with LeanIn.Org reveals a worrying reality: the share of women in management positions remains stagnant. This fact is even worse in the field of cybersecurity, where they only represent 24% of the workforce. And only 11 out of 100 CEOs are women!
Meet The Women Fighting For Equality In The Cybersecurity Industry
Something is changing in the cybersecurity industry and we are seeing it in women like Natali Tshuva (founder and CEO of Sternum) or Aimei Wei (founder and CTO of Stellar Cyber). Thanks to them, it is possible to see progress towards gender equality in a predominantly male sector.
Aimei Wei, Stellar Cyber
The outlook was not particularly encouraging when Aimei Wei left her native China to study in Canada back in 1992. She barely knew any English, was alone, and arrived with less than $300 in her pocket. Of course, this immigrant had a dream and a strategy to achieve it.
After enrolling in university and working on various Silicon Valley engineering teams, Wei was ready to found Stellar Cyber: her own cybersecurity company. Within a year of its founding, this thriving organization designed the first version of the Open XDR platform.
With his more than $3 million in assets, Stellar Cyber is a great example of female entrepreneurial success in the field of cybersecurity. Not surprisingly, it has more than 100 employees and has more than 4,500 users around the world.
Natali Tshuva, Sternum
Although her life journey differs from that of Aimei Wei, Natali Tshuva did not have an easy time conquering the pinnacle of cybersecurity either. After graduating from university at the age of 19, this young Israeli was recruited into the IDF (the equivalent of the NSA), standing out in the midst of an eminently male squad.
Tshuva founded Sternum in 2015. This cybersecurity company is specialized in protecting IoT devices, shielding them from within and detecting their vulnerabilities. One of the great virtues of the technology it develops is its multi-device compatibility.
At 28 years old, Tshuva is one of the youngest CEOs in Israel and an international benchmark. She herself recognizes that her driving force has been the vocation to help others by making the smart devices that surround us more secure.
How to follow in the footsteps of Wei and Tshuva?
Both Wei and Tshuva work every day to ensure that theirs are not just isolated cases in the cybersecurity industry. That is why these two women want to inspire many others to emulating their successful career paths.
- Wei is firmly committed to meritocracy and transparency to promote gender equality in the cybersecurity sector. The ideas of all employees must be valued and, where appropriate, rewarded, regardless of their position or gender.
- Tshuva is a strong advocate of cyber training. This will mean that there are more women leading cybersecurity companies, which will open the way for others to do the same.
