Every September 1st, the cybersecurity industry pauses to mark International Women in Cyber Day — a global observance dedicated to recognizing the women driving progress in one of tech’s most consequential and still male-dominated fields. It’s a day built not just for celebration, but for candid reflection: on how far the industry has come in welcoming diverse talent, and how much further it still needs to go. As cyber threats grow more sophisticated and the workforce gap widens, the perspectives, leadership, and lived experience of women in the field have never been more essential to building a more secure digital future.
To mark the occasion, VMblog reached out to a lineup of accomplished women across the cybersecurity industry to share their thoughts on what this day means to them, the milestones they’re proud of, and the work still ahead. From breaking into the field to breaking glass ceilings, their insights offer a candid, inspiring look at the state of women in cyber today. Read on for their stories, advice, and vision for the next generation of leaders shaping the future of security.
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Pratima Arora, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Smartsheet
“We’re at a pivotal moment in cybersecurity: as we architect AI systems that will shape how people interact with technology for years to come, women need to be part of those decisions from the start. But for that to happen, women first need to feel like they belong in the field. When I took my first computer science class in middle school, there were only three women out of 50 students, and for years I felt the need to prove my technological abilities, long before I understood how uneven that expectation was.
That experience shapes how I think about AI and security today. The world isn’t built by one kind of person, so the technology defending it shouldn’t be either. Attackers don’t think alike, so defenders can’t either — diverse teams spot threats a single kind of thinking misses. Homogeneous teams build systems with homogeneous blind spots.
Trust isn’t something you bolt on after the system is built — by then, the decisions about data, access and governance are already made. Trust is architectural, and architecture reflects who designs it. That’s why women and underrepresented groups need to be at the table from the start, not added in once things are already working for some and failing others.”
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Jaime Lewis-Gross, Senior Vice President of Solutions Engineering, Saviynt
“Throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate to have people who saw potential in me before I fully saw it in myself. That experience shaped how I lead today. As more women step into leadership across cybersecurity, we have a responsibility to keep that cycle going—to mentor, sponsor and advocate for others, and to give people opportunities before they necessarily believe they’re ready for them. We spend a lot of time measuring leadership by what we accomplish. I believe an equally powerful measure is what others are able to accomplish because we believed in them.”
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Cassie Christensen, Office of the Field CTO, Saviynt
“I can name the people who built my career, and not one of them simply mentored me. They sponsored me. One brought me to a client site and gave me the opportunity to speak up. Another hired me into consulting when my experience was uneven, not as a junior but as an equal, and gave me room to prove myself. Others put me on stages and in pitch rooms before I believed I was ready or stopped meetings to make sure my voice was heard. That’s the ask for this industry. Not more advice, but more people willing to hand over the room.”
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Brittney Harrell, Head of Information Security, Nabla
“Cybersecurity is a field where different perspectives make our work stronger. My advice to women entering the industry is to use your differences as an advantage. If you’re the only woman in the room, don’t diminish yourself to fit what’s already there. Ask the questions that nobody else is asking, challenge the assumptions that everyone else has accepted, and trust that your perspective belongs in the room.
This matters even more in fields like healthcare, where the decisions that security teams make ultimately impact real people and some of the most sensitive kinds of information. I am not just a security female leader; I’m a female healthcare consumer and understand that my healthcare experience comes from a unique lens. Having strong security is about more than protecting systems. Working with patient data means understanding who those systems serve and building the necessary protections that reflect the sensitivities of said data.”
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Lucie Cardiet, Cyberthreat Research Manager, Vectra AI
“Bringing more women into cybersecurity is important, but representation is only the beginning. Meaningful progress means building an industry where women have the opportunities, support, and visibility to advance throughout their careers.
That requires creating environments where women are encouraged to build expertise, take on new challenges, have their contributions recognized, and see a clear path forward. We need to foster a culture where women feel empowered to pursue opportunities without questioning whether they belong in the room.
International Women in Cyber Day is an opportunity to celebrate the women already shaping cybersecurity, while recognizing the work still needed to ensure more women can build long, meaningful careers within it. When we invest not only in bringing women into cybersecurity, but in helping them thrive once they are here, we build a stronger and more sustainable future for everyone.”
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Tiffany Shogren, Senior Director, Services Enablement & Education at Optiv
“We’re at a rare inflection point where the skills map of cybersecurity is being redrawn by AI, and redrawn maps mean new territory nobody owns yet. Women in cyber shouldn’t just adapt to the agentic era, we should be the ones designing how the workforce gets there. I spend my days reskilling security professionals for roles that didn’t exist two years ago, and I want more women writing that curriculum, not just taking it.”
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Kathryn Hall, Senior Vice President of Services at Optiv
“Our industry still has an opportunity to evolve. International Women in Cyber Day isn’t just about celebrating women already in this field. It’s about challenging outdated perceptions of who belongs at the table, because the most complex cyber problems of our time demand inclusion of different thoughts, experiences, and leadership styles.”
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Lina Dabit, Executive Director, Office of the CISO, Optiv Canada
“In cyber, authenticity is viewed as an advantage that drives innovation. When women are empowered to stand up, be bold, and approach challenges from their own perspectives, we generate successes that benefit both women and the wider community.”
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Maez de Guzman, EY Distinguished Technologist and Global Cybersecurity Managed Services Emerging Markets Leader
For more than a decade, we have worked to make cybersecurity visible, accessible, and attainable for the next generation. Through Cyber Academia programs, STEM advocacy, university partnerships, co-authoring cybersecurity curricula and Day Zero children’s books, we have invested in building a talent pipeline that begins early and develops future cyber leaders. Our goal has always been bigger than filling roles. It has been to inspire young people to see cybersecurity as a profession where they can belong, thrive, and lead.
What excites me most today is hearing students say, “I want to be a CISO.” A decade ago, that aspiration was rarely part of the conversation. Today, it reflects a profession that has grown in visibility, awareness, and opportunity. That is why International Women in Cyber Day matters. It is not only a celebration of women succeeding in cybersecurity today, but of every young girl who now sees a future in this industry. Our greatest achievement will not be the careers we build ourselves, but the generation of CISOs, innovators, and cybersecurity leaders we help inspire after us.
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Maez de Guzman, EY Distinguished Technologist and Global Cybersecurity Managed Services Emerging Markets Leader
For more than a decade, we have worked to make cybersecurity visible, accessible, and attainable for the next generation. Through Cyber Academia programs, STEM advocacy, university partnerships, co-authoring cybersecurity curricula and Day Zero children’s books, we have invested in building a talent pipeline that begins early and develops future cyber leaders. Our goal has always been bigger than filling roles. It has been to inspire young people to see cybersecurity as a profession where they can belong, thrive, and lead.
What excites me most today is hearing students say, “I want to be a CISO.” A decade ago, that aspiration was rarely part of the conversation. Today, it reflects a profession that has grown in visibility, awareness, and opportunity. That is why International Women in Cyber Day matters. It is not only a celebration of women succeeding in cybersecurity today, but of every young girl who now sees a future in this industry. Our greatest achievement will not be the careers we build ourselves, but the generation of CISOs, innovators, and cybersecurity leaders we help inspire after us.
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Nidhi Aggarwal, Chief Product Officer, HackerOne
International Women in Cyber Day is an opportunity to make cybersecurity feel more accessible to women who may not see themselves reflected in the traditional image of the field. Cybersecurity needs people who can understand complex problems, challenge assumptions and build technology that can stand up to real-world threats.
That is becoming even more important as AI changes how software is built and secured. We are entering areas where the playbooks are still being written, which means the women solving these problems today have a real opportunity to influence what comes next. My hope is that more women see that they do not need to follow one prescribed path into cybersecurity. My background is in AI and data and cybersecurity is a new domain for me but the same first principles oriented problem solving skills, systems thinking and data driven decision making have helped me in cybersecurity. There is room for product leaders, engineers, researchers and people who bring experience from entirely different parts of technology and beyond.
When women have meaningful ownership to make their expertise visible, that builds confidence, develops deeper technical and business judgment and ultimately sets up future leaders to shape the industry.
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Crystal Hazen, Senior Security Technical Program Manager, HackerOne
I came to HackerOne from the music industry, and the security community welcomed me during a major career change. Since then, my path has taken me from helping build our live hacking events and supporting open-source programs to customer success and, today, HackerOne’s security team. I now lead our internal bug bounty and penetration testing programs, as well as our ‘Customer Zero’ initiative, which helps incubate and strengthen new products and services before they reach customers.
That journey has shown me how much of cybersecurity is built around community. Throughout my career, I’ve worked alongside ethical hackers and security teams, while also volunteering with BSidesSF. Again and again, I’ve seen how much people can learn when they have a place to ask questions, test their skills, and learn directly from others doing the work. I feel fortunate to contribute to a safer internet while giving back to the community that gave me a place to learn, grow, and contribute, and I hope to help others find that same sense of belonging.
International Women in Cyber Day is an important reminder that we need to create more pathways for women. That means not only opening doors to security roles, but also building communities where women can develop skills and relationships before they ever apply. Conferences and local security groups can be invaluable places to make that first connection and begin exploring what’s possible.
You don’t have to know exactly what your cybersecurity career will look like before you begin. Get involved in the community, follow the problems that interest you, and keep learning from the people around you. There are many ways to contribute to security, and the industry is stronger when more women have the opportunity to find theirs.”
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