The number of women in cyber security has been grievously low for years. However, progress can be seen. According to a study woman presently comprise 25% of the cybersecurity workforce. This is a significant jump from 2017 when women held just 11% of the roles in the cybersecurity field. While there is still plenty of ground that must be covered to fully wrap up the cyber security’s gender gap, the growth that has occurred exhibits that the cyber security field is the field where women can find exciting new opportunities.
Field of Cyber Security
Cybersecurity was once considered to be applicable only to large or mid-range corporations. However, this has been revealed over the years to not be the case. Small businesses have also shown to be an alluring target for cyber criminals who are ready to foist malware, ransomware, and phishing schemes. And this expanded awareness can result in an increase in cybersecurity opportunities for skilled individuals, either as an employee of an organization or as independent specialists. This expected job growth will also offer more opportunities for women to establish a career in the field of cyber security. With this ongoing progress, the field will narrow cyber security’s gender gap.
Today cyber security becomes increasingly more crucial every day, and women entering the field can be an important component to encountering cybercrime. Considering data breach records in 2021, the knowledge and skills of cyber security professionals, including women, are clearly needed. For women holding an advanced degree such as a Master of Science in Cyber Security, their expertise puts them in a prime position to stop these expensive attacks before they start, across a wide range of fields. Moreover, some of the characteristics like curiosity, patience, time management, and being willing to speak up can be helpful for women in a cybersecurity career.
Why More Women Are Needed in Cybersecurity
There is a rising awareness of the significance of women in cybersecurity among small businesses. Although, big companies like IBM and Google are providing chances to women in cybersecurity by recruiting them for cybersecurity positions. It is because they better know that diversity is a key to identifying and resolving threats to company systems and data. Unfortunately, large-scale breaches have become all too common, harming big companies such as Facebook, Volkswagen, and T-Mobile. These large-scale breaches reinforce the need to add more cybersecurity professionals across the spectrum of industries. And women can be a savior with their knowledge and skills.
The rise in these breaches is expected to continue strongly in the future which opens up many high-paying jobs for women who are qualified. Therefore, women with eligibility can introduce themselves in the field of cybersecurity to gain success. The median annual salary for individuals with cyber security skills is $91,000, according to the compensation website PayScale. Also, seeing female role models in cyber security can be a key factor in attracting more young women to the industry. Despite the low numbers of women overall in the cyber security workforce, there are quite a few standouts that can inspire females to opt for the field.
A successful female cybersecurity professional requires at least three things: perseverance, networks, and support.
Perseverance: It means “you do not have to be amazing to start, but you have to start to be amazing”. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step similarly, women should always try to learn new things related to the field to gain success.
Networks: Employees need to see a range of people in the various roles they might aspire to hold in 10 years or so. It’s not only new entrants that need such role models. Women who have established their careers benefit from seeing others who have successfully returned from a family break. So, there are many successful women who are trying to encourage their peers – just as men do – and making sure opportunities similar to those they have had are available to others.
Support: This includes finding someone who will let you vent, encourage you to keep going (perseverance, again), and help you to understand that you don’t have to put up with poor behavior.
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