A global report by the Global Cybersecurity Forum said that while the majority of women in the Middle East would be interested in studying cybersecurity, only a small percentage of women are active in the field.
Women make up only 25 percent of the global cybersecurity workforce.
The report says about 94 percent of women in the Middle East would be interested in studying cybersecurity.
There has been a surge in cyberattacks in the Middle East and North African region in recent years. Many companies have suffered larger losses in the MENA region than in other parts of the world.
One big issue in the field is that 57 percent of organizations report unfilled cybersecurity positions. Many companies have weak lines of defense, and therefore are vulnerable to major cyber damage.
Laila bin Hareb Al-Mheiri, founder and president of Alive Group, Alive Medical, Alive Labs, and Alive consulting and education said that 90 percent of successful cyberattacks are a result of human error.
“That means someone fell for a phishing attack without knowing they were scammed or became a victim of a social engineering scheme,” Al-Mheiri said.
Al-Mheiri called for more women in the field of cybersecurity. She said that women have a high level of emotional intelligence, and they have a unique perspective on problems and cybersecurity would only benefit from more women in the field.
Al-Mheiri said that there is a societal misconception in the MENA region that women aren’t qualified to succeed in a male-dominated society.
Mary O’Brien, the International Business Machines Corp. general manager, suggested engaging young females in STEM early on and helping break societal stigmas and barriers.
Al-Mheiri said the current global cybersecurity workforce is not a true representation of the talent that exists in the market. While equality in the field has come some way it still has a long way to go, she said.
Organizations must assume unconscious bias when it comes to recruitment and retention. In addition, they should set up and track metrics that reflect diversity in their hiring and promotion processes, O’Brien said.
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