Cybersecurity struggles with diversity. Only 17 per cent of people in the industry are women, to take just one statistic.
At the same time, there are over three million unfilled positions in the industry.
The two facts are connected. Cybersecurity has – at least so far – drawn its talent from a fairly small pool.
This makes the industry a less attractive place to work. But it also leads to one-dimensional thinking, and as a result, less security.
The question is how to change that.
The industry needs to broaden its appeal, improve retention and also change its recruitment practices, which all too often work against applicants from diverse backgrounds.
Dr Andrea Cullen is co founder of CAPSLOCK Education, a business set up to reskill adults for cybersecurity roles. Before that, she was a senior lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Bradford. So she has direct experience of bringing new talent into cyber, regardless of their backgrounds.
And, despite the challenges, Dr Cullen is optimistic that the industry can and will change, as she tells editor Stephen Pritchard.
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