BE PASSIONATE AND MOTIVATED, AND THE REST WILL FOLLOW

Nathalie Rivat, VP of System Engineering at Fortinet explains what drew her to a career in cybersecurity and what her experience has been.

engineering and training teams and am exposed to different areas of the business. My team helps shape the development of product lines based on customer feedback. CSEs play a key role in product evolution as they work with engineering, reporting what customers and prospects require and how our products can best meet those needs.

How have you dealt with challenges throughout your career?

When I started my career as a young networking engineer before joining Fortinet, people were tempted to have negative preconceptions and they wanted to test and evaluate my capabilities. I still remember a few testing phases I was put through designed to see how I was reacting to technical pitfalls. As one of the rare female engineers, I was more visible and more exposed to judgment, unfortunately. Once I had proven myself, I felt like I probably gained even stronger trust from others compared to my peers.

What has your experience of being a woman in cybersecurity been like?

What inspired you to pursue a career in cybersecurity?

Can you tell us more about your career pathway?

I have an engineering master's degree in telecommunication and had an internship in networking as it was one of the most dynamic and promising environments to work in at that time. I realized that cybersecurity was evolving and expanding even faster than networking technologies and I joined a start-up with a security specialized vendor. That was Fortinet in 2004.

Over the past 9 years, I’ve witnessed the company grow its product portfolio and become an industryleading cybersecurity company. When I first joined Fortinet, I started as an EMEA Systems Engineer, then I moved to a Consultant Systems Engineer position.

What does your current role consist of and what is it about your work that excites you? What is the achievement you are most proud of?

I lead a team of Consultant Systems Engineers (CSEs). This has been a fantastic role as I’m at the crossroads of sales, pre-sales, product management,

Following mainstream misconceptions has never been an option, whether in my professional or personal life. Women can do anything. There are few women working in the field of cybersecurity, and even fewer if we only consider engineering positions. Being a woman in cybersecurity in a technical role is breaking the stereotype. I never accepted to let stereotypes decide what my life should look like and what I should do for a living.

What advice would you give others looking to start a career in cybersecurity, especially women?

There is nothing insurmountable. Don't be afraid. Women can do anything, whether that is becoming a firefighter or cybersecurity engineer. Be passionate and motivated, and the rest will follow.

For hiring managers at cybersecurity organizations, I encourage that diversity and inclusion be top of mind. Diversity helps organizations as different individuals bring their own approach to problem solving with different perspectives. Diversity is achieved by hiring different characters and it is greatly improved with gender diversity. Hiring more women in cyber would bring diversity as well as help to address the global skills shortage.