The Security Institute’s Chair, Professor Alison Wakefield PhD CSyP FSyI, pictured, has been named as one of the Most Inspiring Women in Cyber UK 2020 in an IT Security Guru digital event this week; sponsored by BT Security, Kaspersky, BAE Systems AI, KnowBe4 and the cyber membership body ISC(2).
The judges were:
– Jane Frankland, award-winning entrepreneur, bestselling author and keynote speaker
– Nicola Whiting MBE, Chief Strategy Officer, Titania
– Becky Pinkard, Chief Information Security Officer, Aldermore Bank
– Kate O’Flaherty, Cybersecurity Writer
– Deshini Newman, Managing Director EMEA, ISC(2)
– Amanda Finch, CEO, CIISec
– Mandy Haeburn Little, CEO, BRIM
– Clare Johnson, Founder, Women in Cyber Wales and USW
– Emma Philpott MBE, CEO, IASME
– Tony Morbin, Editor-In-Chief, IT Security Guru
– Jessica Barker, Co-CEO, Cygenta
-Emma Smith, Global Cybersecurity Director, Vodafone
– Yvonne Eskenzi, Director and Co-Founder of Eskenzi PR & Marketing; and
– Lynn Studd, Director of Security, BT Security
The virtual event saw the winners awarded with medals, and Stir Crazy mixologist, Patrick Fogarty, attended. The evening included a discussion on the need for women’s lists, the importance of role models and what can be done to ensure more women succeed in cybersecurity. Panellists were Jane Frankland, Anna Collard – SVP Content Strategy and Security Evangelist of KnowBe4, Deshini Newman – EMEA Managing Director of ISC(2), Mivy James – Head of Consulting at BAE Systems, Lynn Studd – Director of Security at BT, and Alina Topchy – Deputy CBO and VP SalesOp at Kaspersky.
Yvonne Eskenzi said: “It has been over ten years since we founded the IT Security Guru, and this is by far one of our greatest feats. I cannot commend our finalists enough for all that they do for our cybersecurity community. It is heart-warming to see that, despite their grand successes and high-rankings, these brilliant women are willing to take the time to advocate for equality and act as role models as well as mentors for future generations.”
About Alison Wakefield
She recently moved from the University of Portsmouth to become Professor of Criminology and Security Studies at the University of West London, where she is a member of the executive of UWL’s Cybersecurity and Criminology Centre and Course Leader of the Professional Doctorate in Policing, Crime and Security. She’s an Associate Fellow of the defence and security think-tank the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), and Academic Adviser to the Chartered Security Professionals Registration Authority, behind the CSyP status. She recently completed her fourth book, titled Security and Crime: Converging Perspectives on a Complex World, due to be published by Sage in 2021.
For the full list of winners, their videos and panel discussion visit: https://www.itsecurityguru.org/women-in-cyber/.
