CYBER SCAPE AFRICA | Q2
2019
Speaking to those joining the field, especially
ladies - share with them your career
starter & growth checklist.
Most of the time, the top level management's
first question is - how much will this cost? For how
long? The only way to make them understand the
return of that investment is to show them what
they will lose if a sensible data leak or data
breach occurs, in terms of legal sanctions, bad
reputation and image, loss of clients etc.
First of all, having and keeping faith. During the
journey of my career, I've always kept my faith in
God, to do amazing things in my life and give me
the strength and the confidence I needed and still
need. Secondly, three words: passion – skills –
worth. Be passionate and curious. Get more and
more skills. Be polyvalent. Establish your worth
and they will come for it.
Thirdly, I never joined this field with the mind,
that being a woman is a weakness. I used that as
an advantage instead; to prove what a man can
do, a woman can do, even better. It is as simple as
that.
And last, but not least, being in cybersecurity isn’t
about hacking, coding, being a geek only.
Cybersecurity is not only about tech skills, but
also legal, management, risk analysis, finance, HR,
change management, and all others humans
skills. You can be in cybersecurity and totally
embrace your femininity, your faith, yours dreams
and most importantly your personality. I like to
see myself as a SHERO in a digital world, and you
can also be one, too.
When the top level management becomes fully
aware that information is a crucial asset for the
company, they should be very willing to protect
and secure it by all costs.
The movement of women in cybersecurity in
growing by the day with new groups
coming around. How are you involved in this ?
Are you supporting the same in Africa ?
I am really proud of what I am doing in Africa
about women in cybersecurity.
I really try to involve myself through mentorship,
by sharing my story and my experiences as a black
woman in cybersecurity from Africa and in
Europe. I do some online conference meetings to
sensitize everyone on information security and
committing myself to different projects. I think I
can do a lot more, I hope to do more actually. I’m
working on it. Stay tuned.
Tell us about your experiences as a woman in
cybersecurity.
Jessica GOMEZ
Information Security
I can summarise my experiences as a woman in
cybersecurity in 3 words: Passion – skills – worth.
Without my passion for information security,
cybersecurity and data privacy, I think I would not
be there to fight for my place in the field.
CISO,
Senior Advisor/Consultant in information security,
information system, data privacy and cybersecurity.
Specialist in risk analysis and information security
compliance.
Without developing and showing my skills, I
wouldn’t have a career in cybersecurity. I must
improve myself, must be constantly innovative
and understand the needs and fears of my
company and my clients. I have to be polyvalent in
every areas of cybersecurity. I am also building
my worth in information and cybersecurity. All
that matters for me is to establish and prove my
worth, and to make it available to the world.
I cannot deny the fact that, it is a man‘s world,
and as a woman, sometimes, I get some surprising
reflections from men, but not only negatives
ones. For now, no majors issues, but so much fun
and good challenges.
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