Cracking the Code: Tenable’s Jessie Jamieson on how women can break into the cybersecurity industry
Communication skills, or the ability to effectively, concisely, and accurately communicate work, findings and methods, can help more women enter and make their mark in cybersecurity, apart from networking with other women in the sector, says Jessie Jamieson, Senior Security Engineer at cybersecurity company Tenable.
As the role of digital technology rises in the world, the importance of cybersecurity goes up proportionately. But there is still a shortage in the sector, and women are also not represented adequately, despite forming a large number of STEM graduates in comparison to the US and the UK. There are, however, role models for women in the cybersecurity field, like Jessie Jamieson, Senior Security Engineer at cybersecurity company Tenable, who spells out how women can enter and make a mark in the field.
The first in her family to go to college and graduate school to become a mathematician, Jamieson always knew that her analytical mind could bring her to new heights and that was when she found cybersecurity. She moved to the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) where she worked for nearly four years in support of a number of tasks focused on military and civilian cyber operations, cyber strategy, and data-driven decision-making, including efforts supporting theAPL COVID-19 Decision Support Center.
“Insofar as challenges, being a first-generation college student meant that I had to figure a lot of things out for myself. I also felt that, as a woman in traditionally male-dominated fields (mathematics and cybersecurity), I would often be the only woman in the room during important meetings, briefings, classes, or lectures, and that can feel intimidating at times I found that I was constantly having to remind myself that I deserved to be in the room just as much as anyone else – which is difficult to do with imposter syndrome looming over you,” she recalls Working now in Tenable’s Research Competitiveness team, which assists with ongoing research efforts and drives the innovation of decision support analytics for the organisation, Jamieson is the author of a number of scientific articles across many different areas of research, and most recently led Tenable's data analysis effort concerning continued prevalence of Log4j vulnerabilities.
To encourage other women to break into the cybersecurity industry, she is also a 2023 co-lead of the Women@Tenable ERG, and is a member of WiCyS and the Women's Society of CyberJutsu. In an exclusive interview with People Matters, Jamieson talks about the treasure trove of opportunities for women to kick-start their careers in STEM and for companies to diversify their hiring strategy.
What inspired you to pursue a career in cybersecurity, and what do you find most rewarding about the industry? The research I did as part of my undergraduate study, namely graph theory and combinatorics, lent itself quite easily to some cybersecurity areas of research The biggest rewards for me working in this industry are probably twofold:
(1) I get to see mathematics and data science applied in new ways all the time, and I sit on the edge of new research in a field that’s becoming more and more complex (2) Cybersecurity is something that affects everyone, whether they realise it or not, making it so important to people, organisations, and commerce. For this reason, I see that my work benefits everyone, and the more people that I can help with my work, the more fulfilling my work becomes. What are some of the most important skills and qualities for success in cybersecurity, and how can women develop these?
Communication skills are key for anyone in cybersecurity, but especially for women. The ability to effectively, concisely, and accurately communicate work, findings, and methods is critical for seeing your work get the recognition it deserves. Additionally, the ability to be agile and adopt new skills is also extremely important, as cybersecurity is a field that’s rapidly evolving. These are non-technical skills that are just as critical as technical ones, and ones that will ensure that women have a higher chance of success as the cybersecurity field morphs and new tech is developed Developing these skills can be a challenge, however, sometimes we have to create our own opportunities To gain experience communicating, I would suggest volunteering during meetings, calls, or team-ups to share your findings or those of your team members, advocating for more of those opportunities for yourself, and working with your teammates or managers to create an environment where positive, constructive feedback is encouraged for all members of your teams. There are also great conferences, like the Security BSides series, that are welcoming and provide opportunities to communicate projects as well as stay on top of the most recent tech in cybersecurity. These can help with both of the skills I’ve mentioned. Why do you think there is a lack of diversity in the cybersecurity industry, and what can be done to encourage more women and underrepresented groups to pursue careers in this field? The cybersecurity field is no different from many other fields that are facing crises of diversity, in that despite recent progress, there’s a history of institutional discrimination and sexism to overcome Cybersecurity is unique, however, in that it’s a relatively new field– certainly newer than, say, mathematics or other traditional STEM fields– and as such, has a head start on overcoming some of the effects of this and other sources of discrimination Additionally, access to technology has traditionally been viewed as a privilege, one that was not often afforded to women and persons of colour, meaning that those with access to technology and instruction were ahead But this is changing– it’s now easier than ever to learn to programme thanks to open source materials and programming languages
