SHINTA BENILDA
ENTERING THE CYBER WORLD AT A MORE MATURE AGE by Shinta Benilda, Cyber Systems Administrator at Services Australia “Uh? Are you sure? Can you do it?” Those were the
They were very supportive of my decision to switch
spontaneous comments from my younger siblings
professions. “Good on you. It’s a good decision,”
in Indonesia when they first heard about my plan to
they said.
switch professions. To be honest, the differing reactions from my family “The challenge in the IT and cybersecurity fields is to
members in Indonesia and Australia also played a
keep up with skills that are updated every day,” I had
part in my decision. On the one hand I was interested
told them. “For me, who loves learning new things,
and excited to try a new career. On the other hand,
this challenge is very interesting. There is absolutely
I had my doubts. I was an Asian woman in her 40s
no time to feel bored because I am always busy
who had never worked in a technical field. I had a
learning new knowledge.”
bachelor’s degree in economic management and a master’s degree in Asian studies, but was I capable of
It was 2019 and I had made up my mind to leave my
making a career in IT or cybersecurity?
old profession as an Indonesian language teacher and pursue a new career in IT and cybersecurity.
Fortunately I took an optimistic view. I have now been working in the penetration testing team in a large
My siblings sounded shocked and sceptical. I did
government agency for almost a year. It’s something
not blame them. It was a natural reaction. I had been
I could never have imagined, but I’m enjoying
teaching Indonesian as a second language for more
every day.
than twenty years, two years in my home country Indonesia, four years in Singapore and 15 years in
There were several reasons for my decision to
Australia. So, when I announced plans to embark on
switch professions. First, I read an article from a
a completely different career, my younger siblings’
cybersecurity organisation saying, by 2026, Australia
comments were inevitable.
would need almost 17,000 more cybersecurity workers, and there would be a huge discrepancy been
In contrast, the reactions of my husband, relatives
positions and people to fill them.
and friends in Australia were 180 degrees different.
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W O M E N I N S E C U R I T Y M A G A Z I N E
S E P T E M B E R • O C T O B E R 2022
