Cyber ‘agony aunts’ launch guidebook for ladies in safety

Two of the UK’s main feminine cyber practitioners – Secureworks risk intelligence data supervisor Rebecca Taylor and CybAid founder and Hewitt Partnerships managing director Amelia Hewitt – are to launch a guide for ladies beginning and navigating careers within the cyber safety sector.

The duo describe their co-authored guide, Securely Yours, as a sensible, agony aunt-style information, drawing on each Taylor and Hewitt’s lived expertise within the nonetheless male-dominated safety business.

They goal to sort out a spread of matters, together with lively allyship, the ever-present spectre of burnout, and constructing knowledgeable model. Many of those matters are drawn from questions posed by others whom the ladies have mentored throughout their careers. “No matter is simply too taboo,” they stated.

Though Securely Yours displays on the experiences of and questions raised by ladies particularly, the authors hope its sensible recommendation can be useful to anyone trying to advance their safety careers, from no matter background, in addition to serving as a useful resource for these in positions of privilege to higher help inclusion in safety.

“It’s been an immense privilege to share not solely our experiences and the recommendation we’ve gained throughout our careers, however the insights of a spread of unbelievable people who’ve every had their very own journeys inside cyber, to create a useful resource we hope has one thing for each reader,” stated Hewitt.

“I’m lucky to have had a tremendous cyber safety profession, and I need others to have the identical,” added Taylor.

“I really feel an accountability inside me to raise, help and mentor underrepresented teams to personal their platforms, voices and alternatives. This guide is a manifestation of that. I actually hope it makes a distinction and helps these eager to thrive in cyber know that they’ll do it, that we have now their again and that they’re not alone on their journey,” she stated.

Taylor started her profession at Secureworks – now a part of Sophos – in an administrative position, earlier than making the most of a forward-thinking inside tradition on the enterprise to develop her profession and safety experience.

In a 2024 interview with Laptop Weekly, she stated: “I began doing a number of finding out and studying within the background, and thru mentorship and publicity across the enterprise, actually centered on progressing my profession.”

Taylor now works on a number of range initiatives – not simply gender – each inside and outdoors the enterprise. Through the years, she has supported many different ladies within the business with mentoring and different steerage.