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Six Extraordinary Women in Information Security

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In 2015, women held 57 percent of all professional occupations, but only 25 percent of computing positions. Even fewer women are found in software development, technology leadership and other key roles that have an immediate impact on innovation. Some of the biggest technology companies in the world, including Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Twitter are also contributing to this trend. 29.1 percent of Microsoft’s workforce is made up of women, yet just 16.6 percent of them hold technical positions. Google’s numbers are similar, where only 17 percent of the company’s tech-related jobs are held by women.

This trend of inequality holds true when looking at the information security industry, where women represent just 11% of InfoSec professionals, according to a Symantec report. But, while those statistics are troubling, it doesn’t take away from the extraordinary achievements made by women in the field. In honor of Women’s History Month, we’ve compiled a list of some of the strongest influencers in security, featuring some of the most influential and significant voices in the space.


Parisa Tabriz With close to 10 years of security experience at Google, Google’s “Security Princess” Parisa Tabriz has been with the search-giant for nearly a decade, and is currently responsible for managing Google’s security engineering team for Chrome, helping to make the world’s most popular browser safer and more secure.


Runa Sandvik is the director of the Information Security newsroom at the New York Times, a former developer at the TOR Project,  and a Technical Advisor for the Freedom of the Press Foundation and the TrueCrypt Audit project. Sandvik tweets on encryption, freedom of information, and the intersection of technology, law, and policy.

Kate Moussouris is the founder of Luta Security and former  Chief Policy Officer at HackerOne. She has extensive experience in the field, having worked at Microsoft and Symantec for several years. SC Magazine recently named Moussouris among 2014’s Top Women in IT Security, and she has spoken at a number of high-profile conferences, including RSA.

Joanna Rutkowska As founder of Invisible Things Lab and the Qubes OS project, Poland’s Joanna Rutkowska has established herself as an authority on security and stealth malware. Rutkowska and her team have presented numerous new attack vectors on virtualization systems and Intel security technologies.

Allison Miller is an InfoSec pro with over15 years of infosec expertise focused on fraud prevention and network analysis. Miller has helped companies like Visa, PayPal, and Google manage risk, and is regular speaker and presenter at InfoSec conferences and events. Miller currently serves on the Board of Directors at (ISC)2.

 Lesley Carhart AKA @hacks4pancakes  is a self-described “full-spectrum cyber warrior princess”, a prolific tweeter, and currently Security Incident Response Team Lead at Motorola Solutions. Lesley is a 17 year IT industry veteran, including 8 years in information security (specifically, digital forensics and incident response). She speaks and writes about digital forensics and incident response, OSINT, and information security careers.

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