Finding Cyber Sheros

UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT

Each year, on March 8th, we celebrate half of the world population - women’s contribution to our society on the International Women’s day. Each year, I send out cheering posts to thank those extraordinary women for advocating diversity, being the change makers and living by example in our cyber community. Many of these women are accomplished executives, board members, CISOs, advisors and entrepreneurs, who relentlessly drive innovations and disrupt the conventional thinking in the industry.? I want to dedicate this blog post to these extraordinary women, our “Cyber Sheros”, who deserve the applause and admiration, because they make our digital world a safer place to live.?

DEBORA PULLEN PLUNKETT, BOARD MEMBER

Debora Plunkett is a cybersecurity leader, a Board member for Nationwide, CACI International, Mercury Systems, and BlueVoyant, and a collegiate professor teaching cybersecurity at the University of Maryland.? As a former NSA Director of Information Assurance, she led cyber defense, cryptography and security innovation, and directed thousands of personnel to execute security missions and protect classified communication of the United States government. She also served as a Senior Fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center and co-founded Defending Digital Campaigns, a not-for-profit entity focused on providing free or low-cost cybersecurity products to election campaigns.

• Why She Matters:? Debora possesses a rare combination of public, private and academic expertise in cybersecurity policy, strategic management and tactical execution. She is not only a trusted and well respected leader in her cyber domain, but also an active volunteer on nonprofit boards and community organizations that improve research in human health and diversity.

1. What is one sentence describing your leadership style?

• “I am a collaborative leader, who holds herself and others to a high standard of performance while also investing in developing, growing and advancing people at all levels.”

2. Can you share a story or an event that has changed you or your view on women in cybersecurity?

• “In my final years at NSA, I saw the gender of the senior leadership team, which reported to the Director, change from mostly male to close to 50% female, with two women leading the main mission areas of NSA.? This was a watershed moment, and gave me confidence that there was hope for the future of women, even in organizations that historically were led by white men.”

3. What is the one book - business, philosophical or cultural - that most shaped or reflects your leadership?

• “In 2000, a dear mentor gave me a book entitled ‘God’s Words of Life for Leaders’.? It’s a small book that I kept on my desk from the time it was given to me until I retired from NSA, and I still have it close by in my home office.? It reflects my faith, it has served to calm me during challenging times, and to inspire me to continue to focus on the important things.”

4. What is the one thing you do outside work that helps you perform optimally at work?

• “I exercise my brain daily by reading, puzzling (I love Connections, Wordle, and other daily puzzles) and regularly digging into my genealogical research.? I also exercise my body on most days!”

5. How often do you catch yourself thinking about the different pieces of your identity in a day–to-day setting?

• “Unlike before I retired, today I’m involved in several different work streams, most of which are unrelated to one another.? This forces me to think daily about my role in each of the ventures, how I am contributing, and if I can or should be engaging differently.? It also causes me to regularly think about the level of my commitments, and to occasionally make changes to keep them manageable."

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DIANE BALL, MCCORMICK & COMPANY

Diane Ball is a cybersecurity leader, a woman advocate, a strategic leader influencing changes and building diverse teams. She held various leadership positions at Wachovia Bank, Fujitsu America, and twice at Blue Cross Blue Shields association companies.

• Why She Matters: Diane is a three-time CISO in healthcare, financial services and manufacturing industries.? She has broader experience in developing and maturing security programs in highly regulated environments.?

1. What have you changed the most about your leadership style since starting out?

• “Understanding your people, being flexible and adapting my leadership style that is best suited for the team, ultimately helping them grow, and all I need to do is to inspire and coach them occasionally.? I learned this lesson the hard way, by not providing more direction to a project manager, who was new to a company and the role, until I recognized the need for more direction.”

2. Can you share a story or an event that has changed you or your view on women in cybersecurity?

• “I was asked to speak on Women in Cybersecurity.? While I was preparing, all I could think of was that I didn’t consider myself a ‘woman’ in cybersecurity.? I was just a professional in the field.? My Dad had encouraged me as a kid that ‘I could do anything’. ? He instilled the confidence in me that I still carry.? We are all professionals in our respective fields regardless of our gender.? However, we do need to help foster environments where all children, teenagers, and young adults see that their path is wide open.? We need to encourage and instill a confidence in them that they can ‘do anything’ and seek their passions.? What changed my perspective is that we should be involved in our school communities, and I had the opportunity to get involved in high schools sponsoring STEM programs.”

3. What is the one book - business, philosophical or cultural - that most shaped or reflects your leadership?

• “There are many books that have helped and shaped my leadership.? One that stands out is ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’. This book was the first impactful book that led me to be a leader and has continued to open doors.? I was also a Dale Carnegie Instructor facilitating others to get the most out of this book and the principles held within.”?

4. What is your productivity hack?

• “Don’t read all the emails that hit my inbox – you can’t – so don’t waste time trying to.”

5. Who is your Cyber Shero and why?

• “Jean Davis, the former EVP of Operations, eCommerce, and Technology at Wachovia Bank. Jean was a mentor and helped me realize the importance of setting priorities and never apologizing for your priorities. At the time I would leave work at 5:30pm to pick up my young son. I apologized for leaving a meeting that was already running over.? Jean helped me appreciate that my son was a priority and so was my career.? The same rule applied when I had to work on weekends or late evenings, I did not need to apologize to my family for fulfilling my other priority - my career. The reality is that we all have multiple priorities in work and life - no need to apologize.”

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REBECCA SLATER, MUFG

Rebecca Slater is a leader in offensive cybersecurity in the banking and financial service industry. Rebecca was also the CIO of Western Illinois University.? Prior to WIU, Rebecca was the Information Security Officer at Memorial Health Systems, and held leadership positions at the Federal Reserve Bank.?

• Why She Matters:? Rebecca sat on both sides of the fences. As a CIO, she managed the technology implementation and enablement for higher education institutions.? As a security expert, she offers technical advice for remediation teams and manages offensive security initiatives in financial institutions. She has worked in government, commercial and non-profit organizations, and is a highly experienced cyber domain expert in the regulated industries.

1. What have you changed the most about your leadership style since starting out?

• “During my years in leadership, the greatest change in my leadership style has been added transparency in the decision-making process. I find the more transparent you are about how and why you make decisions, it results in fewer mistakes, miscommunications and misunderstandings. Being transparent as a leader also allows me to learn from the collective experiences of others more effectively.”

2. What is the one book - business, philosophical or cultural - that most shaped or reflects your leadership?

• “Early on in my career, my employer had a career development class on emotional intelligence. The class led me to the book ‘Emotional Intelligence’ by Daniel Goleman. It truly shaped the way I viewed the world, myself, those around me and my interactions with others. Focusing on improving my emotional intelligence so early in my career helped me advance and improve in my career at a much faster pace.”

3. What is the one thing you do outside work that helps you perform optimally at work?

• “Spending time with my husband is my favorite activity outside of work. Whether we are playing cribbage, golfing, hiking, kayaking, or just taking a Sunday drive, it allows me to relax and recharge so I can work at an optimal level, no matter how much stress I am under.”

4. What is your productivity hack?

• “As cliché as it may sound: eat the frog. I find that if you tackle the hardest task first, it sets the tone and pace for the rest of your day.”

5. Who is your Cyber Shero and why?

• “My Cyber Shero is Dr. Kathleen Neumann , retired Associate Provost and Dean of Computer, Business and Technology at Western Illinois University. Dr. Neumann was a strong advocate for cybersecurity and has been inspiring and empowering women in technology for decades.”

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YABING WANG, JUSTWORKS

Yabing Wang is a cybersecurity expert and an advocate in making security a business enabler. She focuses on business alignment and risk management to enable innovation, digital transformation and business growth while protecting data and brands.? She held various cyber leadership roles at Allstate Insurance, Alight, Carrier, and H-E-B. She also serves on the Advisory Board of Northwestern University School of Professional Studies.

• Why She Matters:? Yabing is a three-time CISO in manufacturing, retails and technology businesses. She was trained in philosophy, started her career as an engineer at Netscape, and spent 15 years in security engineering in the financial service industry.

1. What is one sentence describing your leadership style?

• “I pursue a significant life to make a difference in the world through influencing others to achieve optimized outcomes, leading by example and helping others to grow.”?

2. What have you changed the most about your leadership style since starting out?

• “Take risks without overthinking about the ‘failure’. Believe in myself.”?

3. What is something in your life that you learned to be proud of?

• “I believe ‘A smart one knows how to solve problems but a wise one knows what problems to solve’.? I learned that a badass-woman is not all about careers. We understand the priorities in different life stages or at different times, and are flexible in accepting that as a woman, mother, daughter, friend, and a professional.”

4. What is your productivity hack?

• “Simplify everything, and use magic number 3. For example, set no more than 3 goals and OKRs for you and your team. Find 3 options when you identify solutions. Do no more than 3 things at one time.”

5. Who is your Cyber Shero and why?

• “Shamla Naidoo , the former CISO of IBM, and Debbie Wheeler , the CISO of Delta Airlines.”

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MONIKA JEDRZEJOWSKA, HEARST

Monika Jedrzejowska is a global privacy and security leader. She is the Chief Privacy Officer and Assistant General Counsel at Hearst, and was a practicing attorney for over a decade in data privacy and security for retailers, consumer goods, healthcare, telecommunications and financial service industries. She has extensive experience in domestic and international privacy and security laws and regulations in GLB, HIPAA, CAN-SPAN, various state information privacy laws, and EU Data Protection Directive.

• Why She Matters:? Monika has lived and worked on three continents, speaks three languages, and is a truly global citizen and a dynamic practicing leader in data privacy.

1. Can you share a story or an event that has changed you or your view on women in cybersecurity?

• “When I started working on data breaches and cyber incidents, I quickly noticed that most of the privacy lawyers tended to be women, but the security, IT and technology business clients, as well as external experts, such as forensic investigators hired to assist with the investigations, were all predominantly men.? The conversations often would get very technical.? These experiences taught me that it was fine to be confidently inquisitive when you don’t know the answer and enabled me to become the lawyer that I am today.”

2. What is something in your life that you learned to be proud of?

• “I grew up on three continents and learned to be proficient in English only in my late twenties. Even from an appearance standpoint, I easily fit in. At a personal level, I always had gaps, especially when it came to cultural references or pop culture.? I also tend to make up my own sayings because I translate them from Polish or French into English. For example, I would say ‘I’m walking around eggs’ instead of ‘walking on eggshells’.? It would frustrate me that my friends didn’t correct me.? Obviously, as a lawyer, language matters, including when working on privacy projects, cyber events and drafting various disclosures regarding the incidents. Every word matters. I’ve learned over time to accept that I’m always going to mispronounce certain words and some things will get lost in translation, but that should not hold me back.? I’ve been lucky throughout my career to have very supportive bosses and colleagues, including a former boss, who politely asked me to review an affidavit that I had drafted as ‘whipping a hard drive’, I meant something else, maybe ‘wiping’??!”

3. What is the one book - business, philosophical or cultural - that most shaped or reflects your leadership?

• “'The Plague (La Peste)' by Albert Camus. Since the first time I read the book in high school, its message stayed with me, especially with respect to the dangers of insularity.? It is easier, on a personal and professional level, to stick with what we know and ignore what is changing or happening outside of our control.? But such isolation is dangerous.? As a leader, the key is to surround yourself with people who know more than you do and have different perspectives, and not be afraid of going off the beaten path.”?

4. What is the one thing you do outside work that helps you perform optimally at work?

• “The 3 Rs! Run (or spin!), read (all sorts of books) and relax… preferably near a warm beach with crystal clear water.”

5. What is the biggest gender difference you see, in terms of mentality or attitude, between men and women in cyber?

• “Laughter. Cyber incidents are hard to navigate for most companies: there is a lot to do in a short amount of time. Different groups of people have to get involved, information doesn’t always get disseminated to the right people at the right time, and decisions have to be made quickly based on incomplete information.? It can be stressful. In my experience, women in cyber tend to infuse a bit more sense of humor, in a compassionate way.? A few laughs always help navigating difficult situations.”?

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Thank you, Sheros, for sharing your stories and wisdom. Follow us, more to come in “Finding Cyber Sheros” - Part Two.

Stay tuned with #ProactiveCyber blog series.?