Meet Sasha, an ethical hacker for Deloitte Singapore’s Detect & Respond cyber team. In her role, she does penetration testing, performing authorized cyberattacks on clients’ organizations to find and exploit vulnerabilities. Essentially, she hacks into a client organization (with permission from the client) before a cyberattacker can, empowering the client to strengthen their security posture and keep their sensitive information protected. What she loves most about her job is that every day is different, fun, interesting. She meets different people and works on a variety of projects that expose her to new experiences every day; and that keeps it interesting.

Sasha studied Information Technology at university and was initially attracted to the field because of how broad it is, with many opportunities to do different things. After joining Deloitte Cyber, she found the same to be true of cyber that she did of IT – the opportunities to do different things, especially things that truly make a positive impact on society through cyber, are endless.

Sasha’s advice for those considering a career in cyber: “In the current world where the pandemic is so rampant, cyber is increasingly important; especially cybersecurity because a lot of business, small businesses, big businesses are all moving online and relying on cyber. So there are so many opportunities for anyone to make a difference.”

We need more like Sasha. We need more like you.

Meet Shackerah, a Specialist Master on the Detect and Respond team in the US Cyber practice. Her job is to find cyber adversaries who breach organizations trying to steal data or sensitive information; stop them before they can inflict financial, operational and reputational damage; and figure out how they got there in the first place. She’s passionate about helping clients through a breach and helping them make adjustments to their current infrastructure so they can better detect threats and protect their organizations for the future. Each situation is unique, and she learns something as well, using those experiences to improve new capabilities she develops.

While Shackerah’s career didn’t start out in cyber, she’s happy she made the leap to try it out and learn more. In hindsight, she says that her biggest obstacle to getting into cyber was her own thought process and self-doubt. Her advice to anyone considering a career in cyber is to just try it - cyber is so broad, and you can do almost anything – there is so much need for cyber professionals - and the opportunities are endless.

We need more like Shackerah. We need more like you.

About her work:

Shackerah has a diverse skillset spanning Windows Domain administration, Vulnerability Management, Log Management, E-mail & Web Security tools, End-Point solutions, IPS/IDS solutions and more. A graduate of Howard University with an undergrad in Computer Information Systems and graduate degree in Supply Chain Management, Shackerah understands how a broad vendor ecosystem can create vulnerabilities for an organization.

Meet Shay. Shay is a Senior Manager and privacy advisor in Deloitte Cyber’s privacy practice in the Netherlands. She works with the world’s largest corporations, governments, as well as smaller organizations and start-ups across industries to make the most of their data while adhering to complex regulatory arrangements. Her work is not about saying, “No, you can’t do it”, but rather, finding ways to empower clients to seek opportunities to use their data in beneficial ways - while keeping it secure. And she points out that critical to keeping data safe is remembering that behind that data are real people who are benefitting from the work that she does, whether it’s to pay their people at the end of the month, or to target new customers through marketing initiatives and grow their business.

After earning her master’s degree in law, Shay went on to work on the digital agenda for Europe, and thus grew her passion for data privacy. She joined Deloitte as part of the cyber team, and although she doesn’t consider herself a technical practitioner, she works closely with those who are.

“I’m definitely aware of the fact that the work that I’m doing impacts people in the real world. And I hope it impacts them in a positive way because what we try to do is keep your data safe, but also create solutions that they can benefit from. I think you always have to keep in mind that it is about real people. You work with real people and you also try to find solutions that affect real people.”

We need more like Shay. We need more like you.

About her work:

Shay is an experienced privacy professional driven by substantive knowledge. She has experience working on (major) international projects in various sectors. Shay is often charged with leading particular areas in a project. Shay has broad experience working for a variety of clients in multiple privacy projects. Her most recent projects include: GDPR implementation in FSI; GDPR implementation in FMCG sector; performing Privacy Gap Assessments and Data Protection Impact Assessments; and creating a data processing inventory.

Meet Erica. Erica is a Senior Manager in the Deloitte US Cyber practice at Deloitte US who leads a team of cyber professionals who contribute to strengthening national security against cyber adversaries. The kinds of problems Erica works to solve are always changing, but the thing that remains the same is her goal: to put systems in place to protect our nation’s security. While she didn’t consider herself a technical person before she got placed on her first cyber project, she learned the skills needed to be good at her job – and now leads a team of over 100 cyber professionals doing really meaningful and impactful work.

“I feel as a woman working in cyber that I have a ton to offer. I feel empowered because I know that women bring such a different perspective to the most complicated cyber challenges and that makes me excited to go to work every day.”

Erica’s advice to anyone considering a career in cyber is that not all cyber roles are deeply technical. A variety of skills is needed to address the constantly evolving cyber challenges and take advantage of future cyber opportunities, as well. Authenticity, creativity and a great attitude go a long way.

We need more like Erica. We need more like you.

About her work:

Erica has more than ten years’ experience leading delivery of a broad portfolio of cyber capabilities to the Federal Government, including: Identity, Credential, and Access Management (ICAM) policy and technology, Risk Management and Analytics, Cyber Reconnaissance, and Enterprise Intelligent Configuration Management as a Service. She has earned Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Information Privacy Professional/Government (CIPP/G) certifications.

Meet Shanique, a Senior Manager in Deloitte Canada’s cyber practice and member of the Detect & Respond team. Her job is to help clients understand the cyber risks their organizations face and to empower them to better secure their information and that of their customers. Shanique helps them understand how to secure that data.

She enjoys the variety and diversity amongst the clients she serves – local, global, big, small, various industries – no two are the same, so no two solutions will be the same. How she finds the opportunities that cyber unlocks for each client will be different. And by helping her clients she is also helping to protect society.

Shanique also helps encourage and recruit university students into cyber careers by visiting university campus days and having conversations with students to give them exposure to broad range of opportunities a career in cyber provides.

We need more like Shanique. We need more like you.

About her work:

Growing up, Shanique always knew she wanted to work in accounting or audit/information technology. Her background is in accounting, and when she came to Deloitte, she was able to marry those skills with IT by getting involved in some cybersecurity projects, and she has stuck with it ever since. Her experience includes: Commercial and Federal Cloud Security & Cloud Managed Services (AWS focused); Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), Chartered Accountant (CA); Certified Information Security System Professional (CISSP) - Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA); Lead resource for delivering IT security and controls assessments, cyber security reviews, OSFI cyber reviews, IT audits and service auditor reports.

Meet Deborah, when she’s not leading and inspiring the US Cyber practice for Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory, you might find her training the next generation of service dogs. Her commitment to serving others runs deep and that includes making sure that Deloitte Cyber is best positioned to help its clients address their most complex challenges from digital transformation to exploring 5G, connected technologies, supporting a remote workforce and beyond.

Deborah believes having a diverse group of leaders come to the table to solve complex problems is an imperative when it comes to cyber. Security teams have looked the same for years due to preconceived notions defining security professionals. "As the threat landscape evolves, we need to also pivot our approach to cyber talent." Deborah says the industry has a long way to go to include more individuals from typically underrepresented groups, but that is why her commitment to Deloitte Cyber is to bring that diversity of backgrounds, demographics and experiences to our clients in order to bring the diversity of thought needed to solve the challenges associated with an evolving threat landscape.

We need more like Deborah. We need more like you.

About her work:

Deborah has 25 years of information technology experience spanning numerous industries with an in-depth focus on government and public services, life sciences and health care, and financial services. She specializes in collaborating with clients on cybersecurity and technology transformation, and privacy & governance initiatives. Additionally, Golden serves on Virginia Tech’s Masters in Information Technology Advisory Board.

Golden is an active speaker and author on cybersecurity top-of-mind issues and women in cyber mentoring. She has co-authored and spoken on the following topics:

• "AI-Augmented Cybersecurity,"  discussing how cognitive technology can address the cyber workforce shortage;
• "Addressing Cyber Threats: Multi-Factor Authentication for Privileged User Accounts,"  describing how passwords are not enough and proactive steps organizations can take; and
• "Elevate Women in the Workplace," featured speaker at the SheBelieves Summit, whose mission is to empower individuals to achieve their goals in this ever-changing marketplace.

Golden’s insights have also been published in The Wall Street Journal and FCW on the topics of multifactor authentication and  thinking like an adversary. She has appeared in numerous news outlets including Federal Times and Federal News Radio  on issues ranging from biometrics to cyber simulations.

Golden was named to the Top 10 Cyber Executives to Watch  where she elaborates on her passion for cyber and the elevation of cyber risk across the boardroom and executive agendas as the imperative to manage programs from a risk perspective continues to evolve and mature.

Connect with Deborah on LinkedIn  and Twitter

Meet Natalie, a Director of Client Experience working in Deloitte Canada’s Cyber Center. Her job is to help Deloitte’s clients improve their security posture. Clients rely on us to help them mitigate cyber risk, so we need to be on top of it constantly – which is no small feat. One of the things that Natalie loves about her role is that it’s unpredictable – as soon as you think you’ve got it all figured out it all changes, so you never stop learning. Things literally change from minute to minute. That also means that the potential for growth is limitless.

Passionate about problem solving, Natalie approaches her job like a puzzle where every single piece is exactly the same shape and exactly the same color, “but there’s something in there that you’ve got to find and you have to figure out how to put it together.” While the concept of cyber is broad and sometimes very technical, Natalie says the human impact of cyber is pretty tangible: “cybersecurity allows us to move around more freely and use all the devices we want and live our lives.”

Her advice: “It isn’t about what you don’t know, it’s just you haven’t learned it yet.”

We need more like Natalie. We need more like you.

About her work:

As Director, Client Experience for Deloitte Canada’s cyber practice, Natalie makes sure that our business as a whole is growing and growing in the right way and that we are offering our clients the solutions and services that they actually need to stay cyber secure.

Working in Canada’s Cyber Center, Natalie and team assess a company’s overall environment and get a really good feel for how they work and what security they have in place and then look for holes. Once the holes are found, the team works to plug those holes, systems are strengthened and put in place to detect and monitor for the future.

Meet Aqsa, a Specialist Leader and Identity and Access Management professional in the US Cyber practice at Deloitte. She works with healthcare clients to make sure that the right people have access to the right resources at the right time. Aqsa is proud to be making a difference in the lives of many people. She has been intrigued by access management from the beginning of her career, working on a project that allowed college students access to their financial data so they could request aid – and she saw it as much more than that. It was a way to securely connect people with their data. And although many activities that happen in cyber are behind the scenes, the impact of those activities is seen every day, everywhere. “Just imagine your information getting stolen either on social media or at a store where you may have used your credit card. I feel like I’ve been able to make a difference.” For Aqsa, what drives her passion is the innovation; the challenge of making sure that the unique requirements of different industries are met in an efficient way. And the opportunity to share a unique perspective and be heard.

We need more like Aqsa. We need more like you.

About her work:

Aqsa specializes in Identity and Access Management (IAM) with a successful track record providing public services in security systems integration, technical architecture design to implementation, and project management of designated solutions. She has more than 5 years’ experience working on large, highly visible, and complex projects across a variety of industries while leveraging a diverse range of technologies to meet a required functionality set.

Meet Emily Mossburg, Deloitte’s Global Cyber Leader. A 20+ year cybersecurity professional, Emily Mossburg leads Deloitte’s Global Cyber strategy driving the continued evolution and expansion of the practice’s global reach, innovative cyber capabilities and team of 22,000 cyber professionals worldwide. Deloitte was recently ranked No. 1 globally by Gartner in Security Consulting Service for the tenth year in a row.

"I love being the global cyber leader for Deloitte. It is a fantastic role. I get to work with clients around the globe, across industries, I get to work with an amazing team that’s focused in on really understanding our clients most complex problems. And what we try to do as a team is truly understand what it is that our clients are dealing with so that we can put together solutions for them that not only help them through that challenge but that make them stronger in the end. And it’s really the people that we’re bringing together, the technology that we’re bringing together and the fact that we have a team that’s working together around the globe. It is a fantastic role; I’m so blessed to have it."

Through her work, Emily tackles the challenges she encounters by turning them into opportunities for clients, empowering them to come out stronger in the end; helping them create a shared culture of safety and trust that moves the entire business forward. The impact of her work doesn’t stop at the client, however. "What we do in cyber has a huge impact on our families, our societies, our enterprises, and really the way in which the globe interacts. We’re really focused in on making the world a more secure place…"

We need more like Emily. We need more like you.

About her work:

In the nearly two decades that Emily has been with Deloitte, she has supported some of the firm’s largest and most strategic clients to understand their cyber posture, transform their cyber program during business and marketplace shifts, and strengthen their cyber programs when faced with cyber incidents. This included implementation of new programs and solutions in areas such as data risk, incident and breach response, identity management and cyber resilience. In addition, she has served as a trusted advisor to client leadership including CIOs, CTOs and CISOs, which included a myriad of enterprise security challenges and program improvements.

For Deloitte, Emily has had numerous leadership roles and currently also serves as an Advisor to Deloitte’s Global Board – information oversight committee.

Emily Mossburg is a recognized leader and authority on cybersecurity and was recently named one of the "100 Fascinating Females Fighting CyberCrime" by Cybersecurity Ventures.

Mossburg’s insights have also been published in Forbes on topics such as securing a remote workforce, SC Magazine  on diversity in the workplace. She has appeared in numerous news outlets including CNBC and Tech Republic on issues ranging from election security, why companies ignore security in transformation, to the future of cybersecurity.

Eminence:

• Work from Anywhere. Cyber Everywhere
• The Future of Cyber Survey

Connect with Emily on LinkedIn and Twitter

Meet Agne, a Senior Consultant at Deloitte Netherlands on the Cyber Strategy team. She uses her skills every day to step into the minds of cyber criminals and think about what their strategy is, what they are looking for, what tactics they use – all in an effort to inform society about how we can better protect ourselves. Through red teaming exercises, education and awareness programs and simulations, she helps her clients think through various scenarios that can happen and build resilience against cyberattacks. She empowers them to protect themselves against potential cyber threats with her knowledge and analysis of attacks and trends in their industry. What she loves most about her job is the challenge. There is no playbook for what she does, she is constantly pushed to think outside the box and think through the various outcomes that are possible in a situation.

Agne didn’t always work in cyber. She first got into it when she was working on anti-money laundering and fraud investigations projects, where she worked closely with colleagues who were experts in cybersecurity. This sparked her interest and encouraged her to learn about cyber, ultimately landing her where she is today. But coming into a cyber career, she wasn’t always confident that it would be a good fit for her. She says, “I was not sure if I’m going to be good for it, if I’m fit for it because I never studied computer science. I never received a cybersecurity degree.” So she encourages anyone thinking about a career in cyber to explore what is out there, not to be intimidated by the complexities of cyber, and not think you are limited because you don’t have a certain type of degree. To take advantage of the cyber opportunities of the future, we need professionals with diverse backgrounds and opinions.

We need more like Agne. We need more like you.

Meet Felicia, a Cyber Security Architect in Deloitte Singapore. She helps her financial services clients to evaluate their systems and security architecture to mitigate cyberattacks, decreasing the likelihood of fraud occurring and protecting customers’ personal data from being stolen.

Having started as a full-stack developer in machine learning as part of a cloud engineering team, she saw the vast opportunities provided by a career in cybersecurity and jumped at the chance join Deloitte Cyber. She values the diversity of clients she works with and the kinds of challenges she helps them to tackle. Every day, Felicia brings her unique perspective and attention to detail to make a positive impact not only on her clients, but ultimately society.

She believes that diversity in a cyber workforce leads to diversity in thought, new perspectives, different ways of thinking through a problem, looking at details from various angles. She encourages young women that if they enjoy working as part of a team to protect digital identities, personal data, sensitive information – then a career in cyber is for them.

We need more like Felicia. We need more like you.

About her work:

A full-stack polyglot developer with over 13 years of experience in software development & delivery with Java, JavaScript, Python, and Go language.

Meet Edna, the Asia Pacific Cyber Strategy leader and Executive Director in Deloitte Singapore’s Risk Consulting Services. A self-proclaimed internet policewoman, she not only helps make the internet more secure, but also empowers her clients by educating them about cybersecurity. Edna started her career in IT, after having earned a degree in Computer Science. After a few years, she found her passion for cyber through penetration testing. She and her team perform authorized simulated cyberattacks on their clients’ organizations in an attempt to find and exploit vulnerabilities before adversaries do.

She says the highlight of her career thus far was early on in her career working for a banking client and successfully penetrating the bank’s mainframe which stored bank balances and other private information. It’s this very important work that empowers clients to understand their organizations’ vulnerabilities and proactively address them so they can protect their customers.

Edna says that the advancements in technology that are being made and society’s increasing reliance on that technology makes cybersecurity something that is hard to ignore. Which makes cyber such an interesting area to work – “it’s definitely very exciting because it’s constantly evolving.”

We need more like Edna. We need more like you.

About her work:

Edna is a Director with the Risk Consulting Services practice of Deloitte Singapore. She has more than 11 years of experience in the IT advisory field. Her core competencies are in the areas of SAP GRC, IT Security, Risk Management, Standards Compliance and IT Audit (operational processes and controls). Edna has implemented secure gateway solutions and provided security advisory for various industries in Southeast Asia.

Meet Nikita Shinde, an Assistant Manager in our Cyber practice, who works in the Security Operations Center (SOC) and manages/monitors real-time events, critical incidents troubleshooting, and security analysis.

Her passion for cybersecurity comes from her childhood as she saw her father promote a culture of “security first” in his role at a nodal office in India for cybercrime.

Nikita believes that a career in cybersecurity is exciting because every day offers a new learning opportunity. It’s a place where she feels she makes an impact that matters by working on real-time network and system integrations, and delivering real-time security solutions, as well as predicting attacks and protecting organizations in advance.

Advising women in this field, Nikita says, “If you are passionate about making a difference in society, and if you are a tech-savvy person, then cybersecurity is an excellent field to pursue. It will provide you with immense knowledge of some of the latest technologies, help you discover innovative solutions, and provide an experience of a lifetime.”

We need more like Nikita. We need more like you.

Read Nikita’s full interview: here

Visit the Women in Cyber India page for more details.

Meet Richa Gautam, a Manager in the Security Operations Center (SOC) in our Cyber practice at Risk Advisory. Richa helps our clients secure their sensitive information from data breaches via monitoring, detection, and prevention methods.

She believes that a career in cybersecurity is for any woman who is intellectually curious, willing to think unconventionally and engage in a lifetime of learning. She also believes that the current representation of women in cybersecurity has made positive developments over the last few years, and more opportunities for women will boost diversity in the cybersecurity domain.

Richa’s career advice to women is, “Security doesn’t require innate magical abilities. So, don't be intimidated; be confident in your capabilities and take chances. We can learn everything we need to know to succeed with the ability to ask the right questions, and the most important word is 'why' in today’s security world.”

We need more like Richa. We need more like you.

Read Richa’s full interview: here

Visit the Women in Cyber India page for more details.

Meet Priya Pandey, a Deputy Manager in the Cyber practice, who is a part of the Application Protection team. She delivers step-by-step workflows to address vulnerabilities and weaknesses in the apps, Application Programming Interface (API), mobile, and other web platforms.

For Priya, cyber is a stimulating domain that inspires a sincere curiosity about how systems work and requires a tactical mindset that is patient and persistent to a fault.

She believes that to effectively address cybersecurity, an organisation's approach must be holistic. She further believes that one needs to be dynamic and adaptive because learning and delivering go hand in hand in this fast-growing industry. One must be willing to take a “stay-hungry-stay-curious” attitude to crack the code.

Priya’s advice to women is, “Develop a security-first mindset (the hacker mindset). Be dynamic and flexible, and if threat and risk management is something you believe in, then unquestionably, cyber is the right place for you. It’s time to focus your problem-solving attitude on the yet unsolved problems.”

We need more like Priya. We need more like you.

Read Priya’s full interview: here

Visit the Women in Cyber India page for more details.

Meet Niranjini Arunachalam, an Associate Director in the Cyber practice, who is a part of the Attack Surface Management (ASM) team. She manages projects related to various aspects of attack surfaces pertaining to the enterprise level, including network, host, applications, and more.

For her, cybersecurity is not just about identifying vulnerabilities but also assessing risks and implementing defensive mechanisms against modern adversaries. She believes that the cybersecurity profession requires not just technical skills but also interpersonal ones. After receiving exposure to the world of cybersecurity, she encourages more women to consider it a career.

Niranjini’s advice to women is, “Have a broader vision and be determined. Never be afraid of failure, do not limit yourself, and most importantly, love what you do and do what you love. It will drive you towards your passion.”

We need more like Niranjini. We need more like you.

Read Niranjini’s full interview: here

Visit the Women in Cyber India page for more details.

Meet Gunja Sharma, an Assistant Manager in our cyber practice. Gunja is part of the Quality Risk Management team and oversees all cyber compliances for the practice. This ensures that she interacts with multiple stakeholders across various service lines.

Gunja is a Hotel Management graduate, and was working in the compliance division of a major hospital. However, when she got an opportunity to work in the compliance function for the Cyber practice at Deloitte, she jumped at the chance, and soon realised that Cyber is her calling. She calls herself an ‘accidental cyber professional’ but says that she has become so enmeshed with the cyber world that she feels this is what she was born to do.

As a young mother of a two-year-old girl, Gunja knows how important it is to have a strong support system, not just at home, but also at work. Thanks to the hybrid working model, and the immense faith that her Partners have in her, Gunja is able to seamlessly balance her professional and personal life.

Gunja’s advice to working mothers is, “Don’t get overwhelmed by the increased responsibility that the cyber world puts on your shoulders; you will be able to manage all the roles in your life with a bit of give and take. Dedicate some time to yourself and indulge in some activities that bring peace to you. As a woman, and a mother, multitasking will come naturally, so trust your instincts and believe in yourself!”

Read Gunja’s full interview: here

Visit the Women in Cyber India page for more details.

Meet Echo, an analyst with Risk Advisory Cyber in Hong Kong.

Echo entered the Cyber world at Deloitte with a background as an Engineer in Edinburgh and Project Assistant in Chongqing. Besides the diverse topics she explores in the Data & Privacy team across IT control review, privacy impact assessment, and regulatory compliance for multinational clients across industries, she also deeply appreciates the open, encouraging, and supportive culture of Deloitte. This became especially true when she gained a new role as the mother of a beautiful baby girl during her journey in Cyber, and realized that the greatest sense of fullfillment came from striving for success in a challenging job and being able to pass this passion and positive energey onto her little curious kid at home. With a supportive, tolerant, and understanding team as support, Echo‘s satisfcation was doubled. As she puts it, "Being a full-time working mom is indeed not easy, but when I look back on my journey in Cyber and envision my future, my mind is filled with beautiful memories with my daughter. I realized that happiness is the driving force of my work, and it should be everybody’s too. This is why as a "Cyber mom" I believe we can make a better Cyber world for the next generation to thrive."

We need more like us. We need more like you.

Meet Cindy, a Senior Consultant with Risk Advisory Cyber in Hong Kong.

Cindy focuses on Data & Privacy, cyber cloud, and cybersecurity assessments to help clients in solving complex problems with Cyber solutions. Cindy graduated with a Bachelors of Business Administration and was initially attracted to Cyber because of its fast growing and evolving nature. She loves to meet different people in different projects, making every day exciting and challenging. The key to starting a career in Cyber is not a technical background, but a willingness and desire to learn continuously.

We need more like us. We need more like you.

Meet Serena, an Analyst with Risk Advisory Cyber in Hong Kong.

After graduating with background in Information Systems Management, Serena joined Deloitte Cyber and is now exploring information security services. She has developed experience in security assessments, security consultancy, and managed security services. A positive working atmosphere, accommodating colleagues, and various learning opportunities at Deloitte helped her kick start her career and explore more of the Cyber field.

A quote she wants to share is: "To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is keep creating oneself endlessly."

We need more like us. We need more like you.

Meet Elaine, an analyst with Risk Advisory Cyber in Hong Kong.

Elaine focuses on Cyber and Cloud Security to assist clients in solving their risk and compliance concerns in APAC.

She was devoted to developing her professionalism in the cyber security industry when she was studying Information Management as a major at university, and eventually developed an interest in Cloud Security and Cyber Strategy at Deloitte. She believes,"Asking questions is the first step to making change!"

We need more like us. We need more like you.

Meet Priyanka Pande, a Deputy Manager with Risk Advisory’s Cyber practice. In her role, she provides customized solutions in cloud security, threat modeling, application security, and network security. She also empowers clients to defend themselves against unforeseen cyber threats.

As an introvert, Priyanka had always been cautious about her personal privacy and the security of her data. This made cybersecurity a natural career choice for her, which she pursued right after her Masters in Information Security.

Working in Deloitte’s cyber practice was the optimum springboard for her ambitions and helped bolster her resolve to make today’s digital world a safer place for all. Today, Priyanka is an adept professional, who can find creative solutions to unique situations.

Her advice to women is “To reach your true potential, train yourself to learn new things by embracing uncomfortable situations. It is never too late to pursue your dreams and aspirations.”

We need more like her. We need more like you.

Read Priyanka’s full interview here

Visit the Women in Cyber India page for more details.

Funmilola Odumuboni is a seasoned professional with deep experience performing Cyber Security and IT risk related services for several organisations in several industries including Financial Services, Energy, Manufacturing, Telecommunication and Technology. She has vast experience undertaking security assessments for information technology components, supporting organisations in deploying initiatives to secure their crown jewel technology assets, presenting recommendations to management, developing security policies and procedures, and implementing strategies to help organisations detect and respond effectively to cyber incidents.

“I have always had a keen interest in technology and application development. I got to know about ethical hacking when I started working and became interested in understanding it at a deeper level to enable me to design applications that can withstand attacks from hackers. I started by undergoing training and obtaining the CEH certificate. Since then I have never looked back. I see cybersecurity professionals as the Good guys defending organisations and the populace from the bad guys (hackers) a lot like the superheroes in the movies.”

Funmilola studied Systems Engineering in college which exposed her to several areas of technology including Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. The course gave her the necessary exposure to excel in her chosen profession. As a Systems Engineer, she was trained to solve problems, which is very similar to her daily experience where she needs to advise clients that would help them solve their cybersecurity issues.

Visit the Women in Cyber Africa page for more details.

Jeneva is a Consultant at Deloitte Cyber Security Centre (SOC) with over 2 years’ experience. She holds an Honours in Computer Science and has obtained certifications in Splunk Fundamentals 1&2 and Microsoft Azure Fundamentals. She focuses on security event monitoring and reporting on SIEM platforms like ArcSight and QRadar. She had an opportunity to work as part of the SOC response team, responding and investigating security incidents and breaches on various Microsoft products such as Cloud App Security, Azure, Defender Security Center, Defender for Identity, 365 Security and Office 365 Security & Compliance. She has also had experience in the role as a Junior Consultant at the Deloitte Risk Advisory TAA – Assurance in 2018 where she was exposed to multiple IT audit engagements with clients from various industries.

Skills Jeneva recommend having as a SOC analyst include:

1. Having analytical skills to be able to approach problems from multiple angles.
2. Always researching and learning new information, building the natural curiosity that when you see a problem or a new technology, you naturally go to find the answer.
3. Keeping up to date with IT Security trends.

Jeneva acknowledges the following trends coming to light in the near future:

• Cyber will become more involved in our personal and business lives. Looking at where the digital world is now, most of our critical systems are interconnected by computers. In the future, this connection will be stronger, and more decisions will be automated
• Our personal lives will be dependent on virtual assistants, and IoT connected devices will be part of almost every function of our daily lives
• Personal data will reside in cloud computing, where we don’t fully control the dataflow and access to information

Visit the Women in Cyber Africa page for more details.

Melanie started her career as a business analyst for Scottish Water in the UK, 9 months later, she moved to Deloitte Namibia as an IT auditor. In Deloitte, she slowly moved up the ranks after obtaining her CISA and CIA certification. She then moved to De Beers as a senior internal auditor. She was there for about three years. She came back to Deloitte to head up Risk Advisory.

Besides the good working culture at Deloitte, there are a few aspects that attracted Melanie to once again return to the company. She found that working at Deloitte presented one with a lot of challenges. Elaborating further that,

“I'm a person that loves challenges. So it was really about the challenge in trying to help organisations to improve their environments and find solutions for them. So it was, at the end of the day, about being able to make an impact not only on our clients but also on society and on people's careers.”

Melanie believes that the most effective advice she got was “You can do everything you set your mind to. The sky is the limit”. She is passing the same message to upcoming young professionals.

Visit the Women in Cyber Africa page for more details.

Michelle is a professional electrical engineer (Pr.Eng) and Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) endorsed by the international cybersecurity professional body, ISACA. Passionate about risk management, she has achieved a postgraduate diploma at the University of South Africa in applied risk management. Michelle leads multidisciplinary teams to deliver on Industrial and Emerging Technology cyber risk strategy. She is presently serving as a director on the Circle of Global Businesswomen (CGBW) board, where she contributes in a professional technical and leadership capacity.

Her current role in Risk advisory is to lead the development of cyber emerging technology services and solutions to help secure business and city strategy as we digitise and leverage Industry 4.0.

I chair the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE) Cybersecurity chapter. The chapter objective is to advance the technology and leadership in the Electrical, Electronic Engineering fraternity. We do this by sharing cybersecurity knowledge that assists with solving complex problems such as developing safe and secure Industrial 4.0 systems, smart grids and cities, control systems and process automation. Where possible I speak on panels and coach and mentor upcoming engineers in the field of cybersecurity.

Michelle believes that secure digital business is a way of life going into the future. She uses her engineering and leadership knowledge and experience coupled with her passion for understanding people’s digital behaviours to secure business. Her work experience includes power utilities; which includes nuclear power; cyber security strategy, including operating model design, culture transformation and cyber-risk management.

Meet Adrienne, a senior Partner and inspirational role model in Deloitte Australia’s national Risk Advisory team. She has proven many times over that her leadership – especially in a traditionally male-dominated industry – builds on warmth, integrity, and trusting relationships.

Adrienne is fiercely passionate about Deloitte’s global ‘Women in Cyber’ program. Her vision is to make sure her female colleagues are fully supported and mentored to reach their full potential.

As part of leading well over 50 ServiceNow, SAP, Oracle and digital business transformation programs across Australia, the wider Asia Pacific region and Canada, Adrienne has been a hands-on driver for advocating and advancing the careers of many women working in risk, cyber, and security. As a well-established champion for all forms of inclusion and diversity, Adrienne has actively fostered graduate recruitment and regularly hosts events to inspire the next generation of cyber and security experts.

Adrienne walks the talk. She has built her Deloitte Cyber & Application Security team to consist of 65% women. Across all levels of experience and seniority, they know she is a committed and a compassionate mentor who has their best interests, and professional and personal advancement at heart.

Visit the Women in Cyber Australia page for more details.

Meet Christina, a newly promoted Partner in Deloitte Australia’s Cyber team. Christina works with clients as their trusted cybersecurity expert to solve complex security challenges, drive progress in a dynamic and digital world, and build more confident futures.

Christina’s cyber career began over 20 years ago, when she started finding her feet in what was an especially elusive career choice for women. After obtaining a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) qualification, she kickstarted a solid foundation for her journey in the newly created role of head of security for a tertiary education institution.

Now, Christina is an empowered leader with a strategic vision – delivering digital innovations under cloud-first, agile strategies. Her passion for technology and managing the threats and pursuing the opportunities it presents – from AI and automated botnets, to Internet of Things (IOT) – keeps her enthusiasm high.

Even the most challenging aspects of her role motivate her to take innovative approaches to preventing, detecting, and responding to cyber threats and attacks.

Christina is deeply passionate about solving the substantial talent gap in cyber – acknowledging that while it’s an important issue, it will also take time. With millions of open positions globally, and not enough qualified people to fill them, she is committed to taking proactive steps to create an attractive, inclusive, and sustainable cyber culture.

To women considering a career in cyber, Christina’s advice is to stay curious and enjoy learning.

Visit the Women in Cyber Australia page for more details.