Throughout school, I was always interested in crime. And I think this interest only increased as a result of moving from Croydon to Singapore around the time of my GCSEs. I’d gone to a place that prided itself on being so safe, as opposed to Croydon which - how can I say - wasn’t so safe or crime-free.
I looked for universities that offered crime as a course and ended up back in the UK at the University of Leeds, studying Social Policy and Crime. My specific interest at that point was already around gender-based violence and crimes against women, which guided a lot of my modules. From there, I went on to do a Master’s in Global Crime, Justice and Security up in Edinburgh, and that’s where I was exposed to the bigger picture of crime – transnational examples with larger impacts, while still focusing on my main interest which was gender-based violence.
Throughout my entire academic experience, cybercrime never really crossed my path or my mind, except for one module as part of my Master’s. Even that one module really opened my eyes to the sector, though. And when I came out the other side looking for jobs, I knew this was an area that was, first, interesting; and second, growing in importance.
An eye-opening start
Believe it or not, BAE Systems was the very first company I applied to. It wasn’t that I was specifically looking for a role in cyber - there were also opportunities in policing or intelligence for example - but I found this opportunity the most interesting and attractive as a starting point for my career. That role being a Graduate Cyber Security Consultant.
I joined in April 2022 and it’s an 18-month graduate position which should - hopefully and seamlessly - result in a permanent role with the company afterwards.
Essentially, I’m lending advice and strategy to business sectors around cybersecurity best practice, and helping them with their big, transformational cybersecurity journeys.
I work with clients as part of a tightknit team which I’ve really enjoyed, as it also translates to ongoing training, cybersecurity bootcamps, qualifications and a supportive culture that tries to align what we’re doing, with my own, wider career goals.
In just six months, my eyes have been well and truly opened to the world of cybersecurity. I was previously naïve in my awareness of how constant and forceful the cybersecurity threats are in the sectors we work, and how easily best practise can become outdated. But I now understand how quickly the cyber space has changed, even over the past two years, and how easy it would be to fall behind in that respect.
Women in cyber: we’re not imposters
cybersecurity in general may seem like a bit of segue from my original, and ongoing, interest in crime. Gender-based violence is always at the back of my mind, and it may seem like I’m getting away from that, but at the very least I’m learning the value of starting conversations around gender inequality from the inside.
If we’re going to make inroads into gender violence or crimes against women and girls, then first, we need more women in the crime sector, across all potential roles.
For me personally, I was lucky to find BAE Systems, and didn’t necessarily encounter too many barriers, but this doesn’t mean I’m the norm just because I’ve had a positive experience with a progressive company. I didn’t have many female professors, let alone role models, so I understand why women wouldn’t easily end up in this space.
It comes down to how cybersecurity is often marketed, I think. You might think of techies or coders – these traditionally male-dominated roles. If there was a better understanding of all the different elements of cybersecurity then more people would realise the importance of personality, engagement, the actual crime element, business understanding, and things like that.
I definitely experienced a bit of imposter syndrome when getting offered this role. “Do they know I’m not a techie, or even that I don’t know too much about cybersecurity, really?”
But I had a buddy who was really helpful and told me not to worry about the technical side of it all. Cybersecurity is so much more than that. It requires so many different paths of attack. And for those different paths, it makes sense to have every type of person represented on teams.
In a good place
It’s why I’ve already signed up to be a buddy for the next batch of graduates coming through. Despite there being four cohorts of graduates joining the company each year, there are usually only one or two security consultants, and often no women.
It’s clear that the message about what cybersecurity actually means, or what a security consultant does, isn’t clear. And I hope I can help to attract more women into the industry and the role, even if that means going back to my university, or others, to bring more exposure to the skills and diversity needed.
It’s such an interesting thing to go into, but it perhaps gets lost among the other options available if you’re interested in crime, and not necessarily tech. You might move towards policing or intelligence as it seems a more natural fit. But BAE Systems has been great in showing that cybersecurity requires all sorts of outlooks, to be applied to so many sectors or parts of society. With the four yearly cohort groups, there is also so much flexibility around your post-academic life as well – I took time out to travel before applying for this job in the December.
All in all, I’m really glad to have joined this industry. It offers so much scope for continuous growth, because the sector itself is so diverse and forever changing. I’m six months in, I’m in a good place, and I think it gives me a great platform for my future career.
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