More women in cyber security can ease talent crunch, lessen groupthink: Panel

Bringing more women into the cyber-security industry can alleviate the talent crunch and reduce groupthink, leading to better tech solutions in the long term, said panellists at the inaugural Ladies in Cyber Symposium yesterday.

They noted that efforts are needed to counter attitudes and stereotypes that paint the tech industry as a male domain.

The panel discussion featured the Minister for Communications and Information, Mrs Josephine Teo, who is also the minister in charge of cyber security and the Smart Nation initiative; Ensign InfoSecurity group chief executive Tammie Tham; and Ms Teo Yi-Ling, a senior fellow at the Centre of Excellence for National Security of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

Ms Sherin Lee, who is vice-president of the Association of Information Security Professionals (AiSP), moderated the session.

Mrs Teo said cyber security is essential not only to Singapore's Smart Nation ambitions but also to its survival.

"It's not just commercial entities whose systems can be impacted. A whole nation's critical infrastructure can be targets for cyber attacks," she said.

"In a military conflict, if your critical infrastructure is not well protected, you can well imagine how much risk you put your people through. The delivery of essential services could be at risk of being disrupted."

Singapore, like many other countries, is facing a shortage of tech talent, said Mrs Teo, adding that there are many available well-paid jobs requiring new skill sets that women can take up.

But more can be done to further raise awareness of the opportunities available, Mrs Teo added.

Ms Tham said the industry needs diverse talents, given the dynamic nature of cyber threats.

"We like diversity in approaching cyber-security challenges... to be able to think like an attacker, an offender, and at the same time having that noble aspiration to want to do good."

Ms Teo said many girls are still being taught stereotypes, like the idea that science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) are subjects more suitable for boys.

She noted that women remain in the minority in Stem cohorts at institutes of higher learning.

There is also the narrative that there may be roles in the tech industry that involve "soft skills" more suitable for women, Ms Teo said. This can send the wrong signal to girls who are interested in pursuing the technical "hard skills", she added.

The symposium, held at the Lifelong Learning Institute and online, was organised by AiSP.