At the very basic, almost all, irrespective of our age and geography, are using various digital devices like mobiles, laptops, iPads, applications et al. On a daily basis, we tend to bump into some security issue or doubt. Sometimes we seek external help and inadvertently give out information, little knowing that the information given out could be a security threat.
Such every day security challenges and the determination to make cyberspace a more secure place for individuals and organizations were the driving forces for me to join and contribute to cyber security.
In 2017, I received my PhD on Transformational Outsourcing, an area which covered various aspects of Security within an organization. My research revealed how, despite best attempts, organizations continue to struggle in order to manage their security landscape/posture. They are constantly looking for support to assess and analyze both internal and externally impacting factors to help ensure a compliant security posture. One of the profound outcomes of the study was that if the outsourced security portfolio within a larger outsourcing deal including Infrastructure, Applications and Security, was well managed then overall deep trusted relationships get formed at all levels . CISOs strongly rely on such trusted partnerships to ensure that their organization is safe and secure from potential breaches.
In 2018, I made my foray into the Security Services business, a business that is all impacting and pervasive with organizations' digital transformation and journey to cloud. Digital security is a vast field, both in terms of depth and expanse. My current role gives me immense opportunity to learn and grow exponentially in knowledge, studying new dimensions and supporting various clients in this versatile field every day. I get the opportunity to interact with the C-suite across different industries like healthcare, banking, retail, power and energy and allaying their security concerns. Cyber security concerns are a common thread, which runs across all organisations, big and small.
Security is an emerging field which has the potential to attract diverse skill sets equally from both women and men. However, there is a lack of experts in public space, who can take center stage and create mind share.
The desire to contribute and make an impact in this field motivated me to become the first woman co-chair for the American Chamber of Commerce, Cyber security Committee, Singapore.
In this role, I realized that not only are the number of women in Cyber security very low, they practically disappear at more senior positions. That’s why I’m committed to enabling more women whom I can inspire from my story as well as from the stories of other strong women I know. This will help spread the word as well as form a chain where women realize their skills and how they can build on them to be a part of the cyber security field. I regularly speak at different schools and colleges to encourage girls to take up STEM education, also speak to young women cybersecurity professionals to break any mental boundaries and to motivate themselves to aim higher and higher. There is no ‘glass ceiling’ that is impossible to break.
My journey in this field till, date has been truly humbling and inspiring!
