Cyber ​​security for women

The identikit of the cyber security professional in Italy comes from Women For Security and reveals how the roles of women are many, in addition to the technical one: at the top of the jobs in marketing, in the commercial, research and legal fields.

The photograph of women engaged in cybersecurity is presented following an investigation launched ten months ago with the aim of having a clear image of what is happening in our country. The sample is made up of 222 professionals, almost entirely of Italian nationality (98%), aged between 26 and 65. The survey aims to have monitoring value through the Women for Security Lab, the permanent research laboratory of the Community that will follow trend and evolution of the female sector. According to the answers provided to the survey, 55% of Italian “cyber ladies” are university graduates; almost a third (31%) obtained specific post-graduate training, which in 37% of cases was paid for by the employer and self-financed in 32% of cases. The timing of employment in IT security is very varied: 26% have been working in this area for 1-3 years, while 17% have been working on it for over 10 years; 16% from 3-5 years and 13% from 5 to 10 years.

Most (44%) works in the technical field of Cyber ​​Security; the rest is divided between marketing (10%), commercial functions (7%), system administration (7%), research (5%), legal (5%), project management (4%), dissemination ( 3%), administration (2%), communication (2%) and other functions represented to a lesser extent.

Mostly, the professionals are collaborators (28%), managers (25%), internal consultants (20%) or external (12%). Only 5% hold a C-Level executive position. When asked about the salary, 39% replied that they received a salary equal to that of their male colleagues, but 30% did not declare themselves capable of answering and making comparisons.