We’re delighted to have connected with so many incredible individuals at #WiCyS2024, from students to accomplished professionals. We extend our immense gratitude to Ambareen Siraj, the founder of WiCyS, and Lynn Dohm, Executive Director at WiCyS, for fostering a powerful network of women in cybersecurity. We also thank the additional staff and volunteers who contributed to a successful conference.
We want to highlight just a few of the amazing women who spoke at #WiCyS2024:
✨Alessandra 💻 Perotti, a Malware RE & CTI Analyst at CVS Health, led a workshop titled: “The Malware Challenge: Stepping Up Your Triage Game.” This workshop focused on guiding participants through the triage of potentially malicious files by performing static properties and behavioral analysis.
✨Kainaat Singh, a Security Researcher at Intel, led a workshop titled: “Discovering Vulnerabilities with Automated Fuzz Testing.” This workshop introduced participants to the concept of discovering vulnerabilities through a popular automated methodology called fuzzing.
✨Michelle Wan, Sr. Manager of Software Development Engineering, and Priya Nath, Principal Software Engineer at Workday, led a workshop titled “Shift Left: Walk the Talk or Lose $10.5 Trillion.” This session provided participants with insights into shift-left security and DevOps practices.
✨Chandler Jackson, a Security Cloud Consultant at Amazon Web Services, gave a presentation titled “An Interviewee’s Secret Sauce,” discussing why effective communication, soft skills, and understanding emotional intelligence are essential for standing out in interviews and building a successful career in cybersecurity.
✨Daniela Villalobos, a Cybersecurity Associate, and Renata Uribe, a Risk Advisory Associate from Echelon Risk, gave a talk titled “AI Detectives: The Vanguard of Social Media Forensics,” where they explored how AI is becoming pivotal in social media investigations.
✨Lily L., Director of Global Security Strategists at Splunk, gave a talk titled: “Digital Footprint Unveiled: Understanding Public Data,” which discussed the distinctions between open, public, and personal data, and revealed the methods by which public data is amassed.
✨Ann Johnson, CVP of Microsoft Security Business Development, highlighted that only 23% of cybersecurity professionals are women, with even lower representation among Black (9%), Asian (8%), and Hispanic (4%) individuals. Her talk emphasized the need for a cybersecurity industry that reflects the diversity of the problems we aim to solve, and she called for everyone’s help to achieve this goal.
✨Lisa Einstein, Executive Director of the Cybersecurity Advisory Committee at CISA, discussed the importance of cultivating transparency, accountability, fairness, and resiliency—both in ourselves and in AI systems during her #WiCyS2024 keynote.
✨Ebony Rose Smith MBA, PMP, Director of Forensic Services at Walmart, emphasized that if our career paths do not align with our values, we should pivot.
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