More women needed in cybersecurity
Women remain significantly underrepresented in cybersecurity. Only 24% of the global cybersecurity workforce are women and 16% of cybersecurity teams have no women at all, according to a study by the Global Cybersecurity Forum. The forum, a global nonprofit organisation, has now signed a partnership agreement with UN Women to expand women’s participation and leadership in cybersecurity.
The agreement says that the parties will help transform how women and girls are seen, supported and empowered in cybersecurity – as experts, decision-makers, and leaders shaping their future direction.
“The collaboration aims to reach up to 6 million women and girls worldwide, mobilizing multistakeholder partners and networks to challenge stereotypes and expand opportunities for all women and girls.”
The agreement was signed in connection with the UN’s general assembly in New York and is called the Women’s Empowerment in Cybersecurity initiative.
“Despite an annual investment of nearly $200 billion annually in cybersecurity products and services, businesses are struggling to keep pace with escalating cyber threats, with only 72% of cybersecurity roles being filled”, the study by the Forum and Boston Consulting Group says.
“The global cybersecurity workforce currently stands at 7.1 million professionals, with significant regional disparities. Asia-Pacific, led by India and China, has the largest workforce in absolute terms, followed by the Americas and then Europe.”
“The US leads in cybersecurity maturity, housing 70% of the world’s cybersecurity vendors, while China and India are rapidly emerging as cybersecurity hubs. However, Africa is severely underrepresented, with fewer than 300,000 cybersecurity professionals.”
The report identifies a global shortfall of 2.8 million cybersecurity professionals.
“Alarmingly, less than four qualified professionals exist to fill every five cybersecurity jobs. Asia-Pacific is facing the most acute deficit, accounting for 60% of the global shortage. This shortage is driven by years of underinvesting coupled with rising importance of cybersecurity.”
“Emerging technologies, especially generative AI (GenAI), are transforming the cybersecurity landscape at an unprecedented pace. While these technologies offer significant benefits, they also expand the attack surface and create new vulnerabilities.”
“According to our research, 70% of organizations have already integrated AI into their cybersecurity frameworks, leveraging it for anomaly detection, predictive analytics, and network traffic monitoring.”
“However, these advancements pose risks too, with 58% of cybersecurity leaders expressing concern over new adversarial techniques and AI-enabled cyberattacks”, the study says.
“At a time when demand for cybersecurity skills continues to grow, excluding women from the sector means leaving talent, innovation and leadership untapped. Diverse teams where women and girls are empowered are better positioned to anticipate risks, design inclusive solutions and strengthen trust in the digital systems that increasingly shape people’s lives”, the signatories of the agreement state.
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