In this interview we meet Cinzia Ercolano Founder and member of the Advisory Board of Women for Security, a very active community that brings together professionals who work in the world cyber security in Italy.
The Women for Security group is made up of cyber ladies who share strength, ideas, multiple skills, and work together in the world of cyber security. Today the founder Cinzia Ercolano will tell us more about the focus and the initiatives of Women for Security in our interview.
1) How was Women for Security born? And what are its strengths?
Women for Security was born in 2020 with the aim of bringing together women who deal with cybersecurity in a community. The idea was born from the observation that women in this sector are few and we need to team up and join forces if we want to increase the female presence in cybersecurity.
The mission of the community is to put the skills of each cyber lady into a common factor, to create opportunities for comparison, sharing and continuous updating, in a sector that we know well is predominantly male-based, but where pragmatism, analytical skills and different point of view of us women can really bring an important added value.
In the community we don't have only technical profiles: our cyber ladies cover different roles, ranging from CIO, CISO, marketing, legal and sales profiles, up to those who deal with communication and events for the world of IT security.
Every professional who works in the cyber sector can request to become part of our community: we are also open to welcoming students who are undertaking a course of study in STEM or who want to pursue a professional career in the cyber world. The only request we make is to bring their enthusiasm, their ideas and make their skills available to grow the community.
2) Is today's world of Cyber Security open to women? What kind of opportunities does it offer? What are the female numbers in Italy for cyber security?
We recently released data from a survey we conducted online over the past 12 months. The goal was to investigate the presence of women in the cyber sector and to analyze which study or career paths cyber ladies come from and what challenges they had to overcome. The identikit of the cyber security professional in Italy that emerged is that of a graduate with specific training, aged between 26 and 55; she is mainly entrusted with a “technical” job in cybersecurity, but soon after are jobs in marketing, in the commercial, research and legal fields. 40% of professionals in the sector have a salary equal to that of male colleagues; however, only 5% hold a “C-Level” position. Therefore, a general picture emerges in which the world of cybersecurity is certainly also open to women (92% of the 222 interviewed, in fact, declared that they did not find any critical issues in the working context), but few choose this professional path. The work-family balance is the most felt issue for Italian cyber security professionals: for 48% of respondents, the situation is more problematic than their male colleagues.
The opportunities in this sector are varied and concrete. Today, a shortage of 100,000 cybersecurity resources is estimated. Being able to bring more women into the cyber world also means helping to fill this important skill shortage. Furthermore, women, used to managing complex environments and areas, can prove to be precious resources for their ability to always pay attention to details.
3) Although it is still an undervalued topic, the female world on the web is very exposed to particular threats, especially on social networks. How has the cybersecurity problem for women increased? And what are the weaknesses?
The problem of IT security and the risks that digital entails concerns everyone, it is not a gender issue. If, on the other hand, we are talking about phenomena such as revenge porn, then the problem is certainly much more impacting on the female universe. We need to do a lot of dissemination on the practices of a correct and safe use of digital, this from school age. Today we are continuously connected and we use devices connected to the Internet for many hours a day: for this reason we are more vulnerable to attacks, but also more exposed to behaviors that could represent a problem in the future, such as sharing personal images or videos that can end up outside. control, used against us or stolen for illegal use. We need to raise awareness that there are cyber criminals on the net and that everything we publish online remains forever.
4) WfS is supporting an awareness project on a critical issue, the "revenge porn". What is it about?
Revenge Porn is the act of sharing a person's intimate images or videos without her consent, carried out both online and off-line, for the purpose of humiliating or harming the victim. In Italy it is a crime provided for in article 612-ter of the criminal code, introduced with law no. 69 of 9 August 2019. It provides for up to six years in prison and a fine ranging from 5 thousand to 15 thousand euros.
One of the objectives of our community is to raise the level of attention on some phenomena that have to do with digital, and in 2021 we dealt with Revenge Porn, launching an online survey with the aim of carrying out a qualitative survey. on this delicate but widespread issue.
From our survey conducted on a predominantly female panel (65%), equally divided by age (34% were between 40 and 50 years old; 32% were in the 25-40 year old group), it emerged that 90% of those who replied knows what revenge porn is, and almost everyone is aware that it is a crime (88%). However, if it happened to be a victim, only 75% would report.
The data collected clearly show us that the road to take to try to stem the phenomenon of Revenge Porn is the activation of awareness campaigns on the correct and conscious use of digital. The ever lower age of the victims makes it necessary to pay particular attention to the school age group, starting from which it is necessary to start prevention.
5) Future plans for women? How can a network dedicated to women evolve in the future?
We are constantly organizing meetings and training opportunities for our cyber ladies. Word of mouth from those who are already part of our community is helping us to grow Women For Security. We actively participate in events to which we are invited to continue our mission of disseminating information security issues and the correct use of digital technology. We are also open to collaborations and synergies with other associations or communities that have the same purpose as ours, which is to bring to the attention of other women the example of those who have already embarked on a successful work experience, with satisfaction.
6)How do you imagine the future of Cyber Security?
We certainly imagine it more colored than "pink". Cyber security is an area that has a lot of development potential ahead of it. We believe that women can bring skills, professionalism and even those typical characteristics of the female universe capable of completing corporate teams.
