Presented at
Diana Initiative 2023,
Aug. 7, 2023, 10 a.m.
(60 minutes)
Have you ever heard of women breaking into cybersecurity form non-technical backgrounds with literally no technical experience to lean on? Have you ever heard of them doing it TWICE!? It’s no secret how difficult breaking in to cybersecurity is this talk will feature the inspiring stories of two women who successfully broke into, learned, and excelled in cybersecurity from non-technical backgrounds. One is now a well-known ethical hacker and Purple Team pioneer, who created her own niche. The other is just starting out in her GRC career and is already making waves in the world of Zero Trust. They will share their experiences, including the challenges they faced, the steps they took to learn cybersecurity skills, and their journeys to their current roles. The talk will compare and contrast their journeys, highlighting the similarities and differences and how their non-technical backgrounds influenced their paths. Attendees will gain valuable insights and advice on how to pursue cybersecurity careers from non-technical backgrounds.
Presenters:
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Mackenzie Wartenberger
- Aquia Inc.
Mackenzie "Mack" Wartenberger, has successfully made a mid-career pivot from being an elite NCAA collegiate athletics coach, to an up-and-comer in the field of cybersecurity. In just her first six months as a cyber security technician, Mack grew from a GRC Specialist role into a Zero Trust Security Architect, for both government and commercial services, as well as in SaaS Governance. Mack's experience and skills are the result of being the inaugural apprentice to graduate from the Aquia Accelerator Program, a paid apprenticeship program started by cybersecurity firm, Aquia Inc, that is receiving national attention for focusing on spinning up new cyber security specialists from underrepresented populations, who bring strong soft skills and new perspectives (but non-technical backgrounds) to the cyber security space.
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Maril Vernon aka SheWhoHacks
- Aquia, Inc.
Maril Vernon, Senior Application Security Architect at Aquia. What does that mean? Maril (@SheWhoHacks) or the “One Woman Purple Team'' is an award-winning Ethical Hacker and Purple Team Program Manager — a niche in offensive security testing that has recently gained popularity demonstrating cyber resilience in the advanced threat landscape.
Maril is also Co-host of The Cyber Queens Podcast, an all-female podcast aimed at increasing female and LGBTQ diversity in cybersecurity. She also volunteers as the COO of Teach Kids Tech, a non-profit organization with the goal of getting technology and educational resources to children in underprivileged communities and increasing technical capability and cyber awareness in tomorrow’s workforce. Maril has been named one of the ‘Epic Women in Cyber,’ “Top 10 Women Championing Cybersecurity,” and is a 2023 Women’s CyberJustu Award nominee. She is also an SME and contributing writer to CSO Online magazine on cyber resilience, Red Team best practices and industry trends.
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