I’m a Woman in Cybersecurity: A Swarmer’s Story
I’ve made my career in the male-dominated tech industry. Now I’m ready to tackle blockchain and cybersecurity, and be a role model along the way.
I’ve been working in the tech industry for much of my career, working as an Enterprise Account Manager for Oracle and SAP. It wasn’t until recently that I stepped into the cybersecurity space, where I’m proud to be representing PolySwarm as a female in the space.
Blockchain and Cybersecurity are overwhelmingly dominated by men, with 90 percent of bitcoin users being men and only 20 percent of the cyber security workforce globally being women. This needs to change, and as I look back, I see how my career was destined to land here.
My Start In the Tech Space
Prior to PolySwarm, I worked with with multi-billion dollar enterprises in the U.S. and U.K., helping on their large-scale digital transformation journey. It was clear in speaking with C-Level executives at these global enterprises that data security was one of their biggest challenges due the increasingly digital and interconnected world we live in today.
I worked alongside partners such as Accenture, Deloitte, Capgemini to help these enterprises develop their global security roadmap and implement technologies to adhere to various regulations, such as GDPR in Europe.
Enter Blockchain
In addition to data security, blockchain was another area being heavily explored by these large enterprises. There was a lot of talk about how blockchain could potentially streamline supply chain operations, speed up payments, store records etc. All classic use-cases for blockchain.
There was a big increase in the amount of inbound inquiries around blockchain and its implication within enterprise environments. It was soon clear to me that the business world was starting to take this technology seriously and from there I knew I wanted to work in the space.
Bringing It Together
I wanted to bring my experience of working with large enterprises on data security strategy into the blockchain space. In search of a cybersecurity blockchain company, I quickly found PolySwarm, the world’s first decentralized anti-virus marketplace.
The anti-virus and automated cyber threat intelligence space is a $8.5B per year problem and PolySwarm is looking to help reduce this cost for companies through their decentralized threat intelligence market.
PolySwarm is tackling a global problem and providing clear value. This combined with their very experienced team and global community peaked my interest. I’m now part of the team as their Director of Growth and Partnerships
My New Focus: Cybersecurity
One of the most exciting parts of joining PolySwarm is that what we’re doing has so much potential to change the world as we know it. Banking, voting, supply chain, healthcare, real estate, venture capital, and cybersecurity (among other industries) will all operate very differently in just a few years.
The internet changed the world, but it took time for the building blocks to fall into place. Blockchain will follow the same trajectory and I’m excited to help bring decentralized security to the world with the PolySwarm team.
As a female who’s always been successful in a male-dominated space, I also want to continue encouraging females around the world to join this fast-paced industry, full of opportunity. Whether its development, R&D, sales, marketing, or high-level management — the industry needs more women.
Our diverse opinions and viewpoints help drive innovation and I hope to be a role model for other women looking to join this space. Don’t hesitate to reach out on Twitter with any questions: @CatsFoley!
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