AUSTRALIAN WOMEN IN SECURITY NETWORK 2023 PROGRAMS OVERVIEW

by Megan Koufos, AWSN Head of Programs

The Australian Women in Security Network (AWSN) was founded in 2014 as an open network of people aiming to grow the number of women in the security community in Australia.

Since its humble beginnings as a private LinkedIn group the network has expanded and has continued to inspire, support and connect women in the industry. The network supports those looking to enter the field by giving them the tools, knowledge, networks and platforms needed to upskill and by connecting them with peer support groups having similar interests.

The introduction of our formal programs in 2021 was the brainchild of AWSN founder and executive director Jacqui Loustau. The Security Pathways Program was initially designed to help address the predicted* 18,000 shortage of staff in the cybersecurity sector by attracting, retaining and developing women. The focus was to support women entering security and those already in the industry.

The network recognised that we must focus on initiatives to help retain and support women working in this industry, and we remain committed to the goal of retention and advancing women in security across Australia.

We continue to learn, improve and grow. We now know that according to the Gender Dimensions of the Australian Cyber Security Sector Report, where analysis of 2021 Census data indicated that women only represented 17 per cent of the cyber security. Our future plan is to establish new programs dedicated to increasing the pipeline of women in security. We will focus on students and professionals interested in learning or upskilling as well as supporting emerging and established leaders advancing their careers.

WHAT MAKES OUR PROGRAMS DIFFERENT?

In addition to small cohorts and high touch programs, our programs differ from others in the peer support and network connections our participants and members receive through:

The Women In Security Mentoring Program

AWSN, in partnership with the Australian Signals Directorate and Australian start-up OK RDY, has developed Australia’s first mentoring program with an associated app-based platform for women in security. The program offers training resources, networking and ongoing support for the mentoring journey.

The app uses AI technology to foster deeper, more successful mentoring connections by suggesting mentors and matching these with mentees based on their values, interests and experience.

Since its official launch in October 2022 the program has grown to have 250 mentors and mentees interacting daily. 2023 will see the introduction of further enhancements to support the user experience and provide exclusive access to new mentoring videos designed to support the mentoring journey. These self-paced learning videos will cover topics such as:

• Reciprocity

• Building Trust

• Meaningful Mentoring

• Getting Started

• Building Confidence, and more!

Chapter Events

Regular events organised and run by our team of chapter leads provide opportunities for members to connect with and learn from peers and other members of the AWSN community.

Slack Group

Each program cohort has its own dedicated private group to enable its members to communicate before, during and after program completion to share ideas and wins and to receive support.

CV & CAREER SESSIONS

Participants receive career advice and CV guidance from industry experts through group sessions to assist them with job readiness and support leadership aspirations, with the option of additional one-onone guidance. We have expanded this offering from Security Pathways participants to Women in Leadership program participants after receiving feedback over the past year.

2023 Programs Overview

With sponsorship from the Australian Signals Directorate we are introducing a wider range of programs to support the community this year. Based on continual feedback from our community we have made a few changes

Our Security Pathways stream is separated into foundational courses and those which dive deeper into our popular specialised areas.

Likewise our Women in Leadership programs are now grouped into programs for emerging leaders with two to three years’ experience in security and programs for established leaders with more than five years in security.

We have created a security career ‘sandbox’ where women can learn and practice their skills in an inclusive space. This helps them find their areas of interest and build on their current knowledge of the different areas of security. This helps ensure their future security training investments are directed to the areas of security that most interest them and to which they are best suited.

Introduction to Cybersecurity Essentials - We are continuing with our most popular security pathways program and will admit two cohorts to the program this year. It provides insight into the different areas of security in a comfortable environment where participants can learn, ask questions and practice their skills.

OSINT Foundations Course - This course shows how to investigate people, places and things in the online environment. Participants learn key concepts and skills in open-source intelligence (OSINT) including efficient searching, data reduction and verification.

Creating Your Cyber Security Toolkit^ - We have received much feedback from our community members indicating their wish to be able to set up a security lab at home for their own learning and experience. This hands-on training supports participants to set up their own virtual machines and gives them a basic understanding of Linux and PowerShell commands and the functionality of a number of useful cybersecurity tools.

CompTIA Security+ Training^ - This is an intensive, instructor-led program designed to prepare participants for the CompTIA Security+ exam. We wanted to make some certification training available at a subsidised price for our members.

Specialised Incident Response Programs

Based on the popularity and feedback of the 2022 training, we are bringing the Incident Response training exercise to Hobart, Brisbane, Sydney and Newcastle for 2023. We will also be running the Incident Response Competition in the second half of the year.

Women In Leadership Programs

We are offering the following programs this year for emerging leaders with two to three years’ experience in security.

Emerging Leaders Program – We have made some changes to this program for 2023 based on participant feedback. These include spreading out the sessions to fortnightly, adding an additional one-onone coaching session and four learning lab sessions and integrating the learnings from the program. The first cohort is already undertaking the program and we are now accepting applications for the second cohort.

Powerful Presenter Program – Our program to help participants learn the art of impactful presenting is back for 2023. Because of limited trainer availability we can cater for only one cohort this year. We will be offering the program to additional cohorts in the early part of 2024.

Business Communications 1^ - This is one of our new programs for 2023 for emerging leaders. It helps a broad range of cybersecurity professionals break existing habits and enables them to produce more impactful written business communications. There is a big difference between writing reports for university courses and for corporate audiences. This program equips participants with the skills to produce effective email communications and high-quality, informative reports and business communications. These are critical skills needed to persuade a board that it needs to invest in stronger controls to mitigate key risks, or to inform major stakeholders on the impact of recent incidents. This program is a prerequisite to part two, which will be offered in 2024.

CISM Training^ - This is an intensive, instructor-led program designed to prepare professionals for the Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) exam. The ISACA CISM is an industry recognised certification which will help participants learn better methods to manage large security programs and teams.

These are the programs we are providing this year for established leaders with more than five years’ experience in security.

we want to support founders in our community. This bootcamp provides the starting point for anyone curious about exploring their start-up idea. This first training will be held in Melbourne. EoIs for other states are being accepted.

All Women in Leadership participants receive access to the Leadership Forums. These forums are held three times per year. They provide a platform and inclusive space for all women in the program to come together and discuss common issues, support each other, share ideas and learnings, ask questions, be inspired and share stories. This year we will also be inviting past participants to present at the forums to support participants as they advance in their leadership roles.

Project Friedman

Project Friedman will run again this year as a partnership between WomenSpeakCyber and AWSN. It supports women wanting to speak publicly at events and conferences.

WANT TO BE A PART OF THE ACTION?

Although most of these programs are already oversubscribed, please complete an EoI so we can assess the level of interest in future training programs.

Aspiring CISO Masterclass – This is returning for another year We have added an addition session to further support participants and we will run the program for two cohorts this year to keep the numbers small and allow for more interaction between participants and our coach. This masterclass helps participants understand what skills and knowledge are required to be a CISO so they can work towards this goal.

Secure Your Board Leadership Masterclass^ - Board Communication has been added to our programs this year based on feedback from many members desiring to move into higher leadership and C-suite positions. This program teaches how to effectively communicate with a board. It will be offered twice in 2023.

Bootcamp for Aspiring Cyber Founders^- Being a founder is a role very different from any other and

In addition to these subsidised programs we are planning to offer further programs to our members. As an AWSN member you will have access to these subsidised programs and access to a diverse, Australia-wide network of professionals in all areas of security and at different stages of their careers.

All program details including subsidised costs, dates, times and training partner details are available on our website here.

If you are yet to become a member of AWSN –you can join here.