A Badge, a Competition, a Community: Three Ways USW is Working to Increase the Number of Women in Cyber Security

Ada Lovelace, Grace Hopper and Margaret Hamilton are names that should be as synonymous with computing in the public consciousness as Steve Jobs, Tim Berners-Lee and Alan Turing are. After all, Ada Lovelace is now known as ‘the first computer programmer’; Grace Hopper as the ‘Mother of COBOL’ (a programming language used for commercially for over 40 years); and Margaret Hamilton as the first ‘software engineer’, responsible for developing the guidance and control systems for NASA’s Apollo missions.

These women (and others) were integral to the development of computing. Yet computing, and especially cyber security, are perceived as male industries. A perception reflected in research by the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: just 16% of people employed in cyber security are female. In UK tech more generally, only 22% of directorship roles are held by women. And of the 100,000 tech jobs created in the UK each year, only 14% will be filled by women.

In Demand: the Need for More Cyber Security Professionals

Whether it’s ransomware, phishing or smishing, cyber security failures are costing UK companies and citizens hard earned cash. The NFIB Fraud and Cyber Crime Dashboard (for Wales, N Ireland and England) shows 28,943 reports of cyber-crime in 2021. The UK government Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2022 reveals that 39% of UK businesses surveyed identified a cyber breach in 2021; 31% said they were attacked every week. The average cost of each attack for a medium–large business was £19,400.

According to GCHQ, ransomware attacks in the UK doubled in 2021. They declined to publish the figures, but a US Treasury report estimated the cost of ransomware in the USA in the first six months of 2021 at $590m.

Consequently, 82% of boards or senior management within UK businesses surveyed rate cyber security as a ‘very high’. And that means they need cyber security specialists to secure their networks against attack.

Increasing the Number of Women in Cyber

So both opportunity and need exist; and, clearly, talent isn’t the barrier to greater female participation. Therefore, more needs to be done to encourage girls to embark on a career in tech, then nurture and support their careers.

In her previous role, as Head of Cyber Security at USW, Clare Johnson developed graduates with the skills necessary for this work. But it is in her current role as Partnerships and Outreach Manager (Digital and STEM) that USW Community of Expertise: Community Engagement member Clare is working with schools and youth organisations to run events to interest more girls in a career in cyber security, then nurture and support their careers in cyber security through the Women in Cyber Wales network.

The Cyber Security Challenge Badge

Launched in 2019, in collaboration with the 4th Caerleon Brownies unit, this unofficial Girl Guides’ badge aims to give girls of all ages the chance to learn about cyber security.

In order to earn the Cyber Security Challenge Badge, the Girl Guides are set a series of age-appropriate challenges on topics such as: strong passwords, deciphering codes, and digital footprint. The various tasks can be completed from as young as a five-year-old in Rainbows, up to an 18-year-old Ranger.

The badge has been well received by the Girlguiding community, gaining interest across the UK, and as far as Canada.

“We were delighted to be approached by 4th Caerleon Brownies to create this exciting challenge. This project supports the national effort to get more girls interested in careers in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) field.” — Clare Johnson.

2022 CyberFirst Girls Competition Welsh Final

USW’s National Cyber Security Academy hosted the 2022 CyberFirst Girls Competition Welsh Final in February 2022. Run by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), part of GCHQ, the competition saw pupils from 11 Welsh schools working in teams to tackle cyber-related puzzles covering topics from networking and AI to cryptography and logic in a bid to score the most points and be named the country’s CyberFirst champions.

The NCSC said thousands of girls took part this year — many for the first time — in the new-look contest which aims to inspire young women to pursue cyber careers.

“By showcasing our facilities to the competitors, and offering them an insight into the educational opportunities available to those who study for a cyber qualification, we hope they will be able to grasp the exciting opportunities that are available within the sector.” — Dr Paul Davies, Dean of the Faculty of Computing, Engineering, and Science, at USW.

“The UK’s growing cyber security industry needs more female representation, so it’s great to see thousands of girls nationwide taking part in the contest, many for the first time.” — Chris Ensor, NCSC Deputy Director for Cyber Growth.

Since it started in 2017, tens of thousands of girls aged 12–13 have entered the competition, 2022’s 7,000 entrants being its highest number of competitors in a year. Hopefully, many of them will go on to study then enjoy successful careers in cyber security.