You don ’ t have to be a cybersecurity expert to take on a role in cybersecurity . it becomes irrelevant , and we don ’ t achieve our desired outcomes .

How can CISOs upskill performance amidst the current security talent shortage ?

One thing we ’ ve been doing is upskilling people who are new to security . You don ’ t have to be a cybersecurity expert to take on a role in cybersecurity . If you have communication skills , analytics or an interest in the topic , you can be trained in cybersecurity . There are many courses to help people learn .

We often take on a cohort of junior staff who naturally start to move into their chosen areas of interest ; some become good at risk , some become interested in threat intelligence , some find that incident response is most of interest to them . Then , we can start to help them diversify and move around into different roles . One of the greatest things I ’ ve witnessed as a CISO is seeing people evolve their own careers and move on to become CISOs themselves .

Why is diversity important in the cybersecurity space and what can the community do to better support women in this field ?

UCL is a large , complex environment which has a diverse cohort of people . If my team doesn ’ t reflect that , then I can ’ t communicate effectively with those people and I ’ m not going to be able to find the risks right for them .

In terms of encouraging women into cybersecurity , it ’ s about ensuring they understand they don ’ t need to be the most technical person in the world . The skills women bring to the table are crucial to the development of this industry . Logical problem solving , juggling multiple opposing demands , having to consider risk proportionately are often strong female traits that fit easily into the world of cybersecurity .

I also think we ought to reconsider how some of the conferences and events are managed as they ’ re very geared towards male-orientated

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