IN THE SPOTLIGHT - Camille Fran?ois, our finalist in the "Cybersecurity Woman Barrier Breaker" category of CSWY Awards 2020

Nothing makes me happier than shining the spotlight on someone changing the world!

That is my “why” for creating the Cybersecurity Woman of the Year and Ally of the Year Awards. There are so many courageous women and men making sure we are safe and secure who rarely get the attention they deserve. These awards bring us together to celebrate all the talent in our cybersecurity community.

Last year, I mentioned in my opening statement that we need more women in cybersecurity, not only because we look at things differently, but also because we are the ones that make light out of the darkness. We are the creators of life we bring into this world to thrive and survive. We are also the subtle but strong protectors of our families, our communities, and each other. The world needs us – perhaps now more than ever!

Before we get to who won this year’s awards, I wanted to share more about all the people our judges considered as deserving nominees. Here is a look at another spectacular woman saving the world every day, our 2020 Cybersecurity Woman of the Year nominee Ms. Camille Fran?ois:

What is your “why” for being in the cybersecurity or privacy field?

I spent a bit of time studying the concept of cyberwarfare, and researching cyber conflict studies, which was a bit unusual for someone who’s first graduate degree was in Human Rights. 

Cybersecurity felt like a bit of a frontier for human rights concerns at that time, but I felt strongly that people should be protected online as well as offline. The more I studied cyber conflict, the more I realized that we are lacking a positive vision for cyber peace. So I followed the cybersecurity rabbit hole and stayed there! 

Describe one of your achievements that you are most proud of and why.

A few weeks ago, my team uncovered Secondary Infektion —a large, multi-platform information operation coordinated by a new threat actor in Russia. In addition to documenting the operation, which spread over six years and more than 300 platforms, we coordinated the widest ever coalition of tech platforms to take joint action on a disinformation campaign. 

That said, my proudest achievements aren’t one-off wins, but areas that warrant continuing care and attention. Building and supporting the team I have the honor to lead at Graphika continues to be a great source of joy, and the work is never finished.

If you were a queen of the world and could change one behavior to make everyone safer, what would it be?

There are many behaviors I’d change throughout the security industry, which has a long way to go to be the inclusive and diverse industry we deserve in order to ensure collective safety and security. Monoculture and groupthink are a security risk. 

If selected for the award, how do you envision that impacting your mission, reach, sustainability, and results? 

I’ll take this opportunity to state how grateful I am for this nomination. It also gave me the opportunity to learn more about (and celebrate!) Diana Waithanji and Kavya Pearlman, my co-nominees, and the amazing barrier-breaking work that they are both doing. In general, I’m incredibly excited by the work that many of my women and femmes are doing to stretch the boundaries of our field.

How can CSWY 2020 help you further your mission? 

That’s an easy one: I hope the new generation of talent entering this field gets inspired by people who have brought new perspectives, ambitions and ideas into the field of cybersecurity. Like Diana, Kavya and many others who are continually evolving what it means to secure our online world. 

Name one person, alive or dead, you’d like to collaborate on a project with? 

Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama (who loves dots) could redesign Graphika’s network maps. This was the totally brilliant idea of my colleague Nnenna Izegbu. 

What would you like to see happen for women in the coming year in the greater Cyber/Tech community? 

Meaningful, diverse participation at the top levels, from C-suites to board meetings. Hand to hand with this, we should continue shining a light on the many ways exclusion continues to happen throughout the field, and bring accountability for those who are responsible. 

Where do you find your inspiration? 

It’s a surprisingly classic answer, but I do watch a lot of Star Trek. This helps me imagine possible futures, and I’m indebted to Captain Benjamin Sisko who models a fantastic way to conjugate responsibility and eccentricity in his leadership style.

More About Me:

Contact me on LinkedIn: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/camillefrancois/

And Twitter: @camillefrancois

"Our community is strong even during these challenging times and I find so much inspiration from all of you. You have done everything you can to focus on what you can do – protecting people so we can keep some normalcy in a world gone wild." Carmen Marsh

Please visit our CSWY 2020 site to cast your vote: https://leadmind.inteligenca.com/cswy2020/