Cyber Security experts have been on a high demand over the recent years as more organizations continue to adopt technology systems. New innovations discovered every day are increasing the need to train, mentor and include more cybersecurity personnel to curb the increasing rate of cyber crimes worldwide.
Evelyn Kilel, a computer scientist and cybersecurity analyst at Ernst and Young is one of the co-founders of Shehacks KE. She Hacks Kenya is an all-female community that was founded in 2016, through the efforts of Patricia Rotich with the assistance of Safaricom’s women in technology. This came after the realization that the industry lacked proactive female participation and their first appearance was at Akirachix annual conference where they held a session on information security with the guidance of Dr Gameli Mawudor. SheHacks has continually held outreaches, boot-camps and webinar sessions in Nairobi and Eldoret as its demand grows.
“The motivation behind creating Shehacks KE community was to give women in cybersecurity a platform where they could interact, learn, network as well assist those with an objective of joining this industry,” Says Evelyn Kilel, co-founder sheHacks.
SheHacks targets women in technology at large whose intentions are to learn more on information technology security or those whose mission is to join the industry but have little or no knowledge. Notably, this is a growing industry due to the high penetration of internet, usage of wireless networks and smart devices. Through their monthly meetups, they explore various different topics on cybersecurity such as web and mobile applications security, antivirus evasion, social engineering, red teaming and best cybersecurity practices for various organizations. Though these sessions, more ladies have been able to be mentored into the industry.
SheHacks future projections are to target more younger women and girls at the high school level as well as attract more women mentors in order to create a wider community of women in cybersecurity.
“The cybersecurity career is an ever-evolving one because the illegal hackers are as well creating and forming new techniques to access information illegally and as such it requires passion and continuous research in order for one to succeed in the industry. In addition, learning is key, someone ought to keep the momentum of improving themselves in the different cybersecurity sectors”. Evelyn Kilel concludes.
