Deloitte launches Women in Cyber initiative to address gender gap in cyber security

Women are underrepresented in the cyber security workforce in Switzerland and worldwide. At the same time the industry is facing a growing global shortage of cyber security professionals. To help organisations bridge this gap, the professional services firm Deloitte launches a Women in Cyber initiative across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) that brings together clients, experts and colleagues in pursuit of achieving gender parity in cyber security.

The EMEA Women in Cyber initiative was originated in the UK in 2015 and has developed into a collaborative initiative across EMEA with a common vision for the future: To promote gender diversity in the cyber security industry by initiating the dialogue, creating awareness and fostering a community that inspires female talent to pursue a career in cyber.

With the trend towards digitalisation and the rise of cybercrime, cyber security has become one of the hottest and fastest-growing fields in technology across the globe today. The global deficit of cyber security professionals is continuously growing. Despite the continuous growth in cyber security spending and the wellspring of new professional opportunities, the imbalance between the number of women and men among the cyber security workforce worldwide is significant: women represent only 11% of the global cyber workforce, according to the 2017 Global Information Security Workforce Study ‘Women in Cybersecurity’.

“At Deloitte, we are committed to addressing this imbalance. We aim to narrow the gender gap by spreading awareness of the diverse career opportunities available to women in cyber security, by addressing gender biases, and by initiating a dialogue that helps women navigate the profession and its opportunities,” says Klaus Julisch, Lead Cyber Partner and the sponsoring partner of the Deloitte Women in Cyber programme in Switzerland.

“To start the dialogue, we interviewed prominent female cyber leaders in Switzerland to learn about their journeys, hear their views on their current roles and the opportunities the profession has to offer. Cyber is a multi-faceted field that can seem obscure to those on the outside. With this initiative, we hope both women and men will be able to get a better understanding of what it means to be a cyber-professional and why it’s a great career choice.” adds Patricia Egger leader of Deloitte’s Women in Cyber programme in Switzerland.

The Women in Cyber initiative includes many interesting insights. Currently, a series of portraits is being published with female security leaders across industry and academia, which reveals unique perspectives and lessons learned from their professional journeys. Whether it is overcoming challenges, advice on how to build a career in cyber or skills needed to succeed, these inspiring stories provide in-depth, diverse and bold insights that will help drive the dialogue on gender diversity.

• Learn more about EMEA Women in Cyber on our website and feel free to quote from the Women in Cyber interviews. Please also have a look at our Cyber Flash and subscribe online.
• Learn more about our firm’s commitment to gender equality.
• Women's journey to cyber security - what does it take? Find out more about the journey to diversity in cyber security at Deloitte.

About the Women in Cyber interview series

Deloitte Switzerland interviewed female security leaders across industries and academia, who spoke with Deloitte about their journey to cyber security, lessons learned and perspectives on their current roles. Whether it is overcoming challenges, advice on how to build a career in cyber or skills needed to succeed; these inspiring stories provide in-depth, diverse and bold insight that will help to drive the dialogue across EMEA. These leadership portraits will be available and published on the EMEA Women in Cyber website over the next few months.

Deloitte Switzerland

Deloitte is a leading accounting and consulting company in Switzerland and provides industry-specific services in the areas of Audit & Assurance, Consulting, Financial Advisory, Risk Advisory and Tax & Legal. With more than 1,800 employees at six locations in Basel, Berne, Geneva, Lausanne, Lugano and Zurich (headquarters), Deloitte serves companies and organisations of all legal forms and sizes in all industry sectors.

Deloitte Switzerland is an affiliate of Deloitte North West Europe, a member firm of the global network of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) comprising of around 264,000 employees in more than 150 countries.

Note to editors

In this press release, Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (“DTTL”), a UK private company limited by guarantee, and its network of member firms, each of which is a legally separate and independent entity.

Deloitte AG is an affiliate of Deloitte NWE LLP, a member firm of DTTL. Deloitte NWE LLP and DTTL do not provide services to clients. Deloitte AG is an audit firm recognised and supervised by the Federal Audit Oversight Authority (FAOA) and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).

Please see www.deloitte.com/ch/about to learn more about our global network.

© 2018 Deloitte AG. All rights reserved.