Remarkable Stories; The Journey

Remarkable stories indeed. Twelve women give a highlight of how they got started in cybersecurity; was it passion, did someone change course, was it tough and how did we maneuver.

This is the ladies edition (IWD 2023) and I loved the highlights from everyone. Happy Reading!!!

Janine Muka — Information Security Manager

“As someone with a strong interest in technology and an eye for detail, I pursued a career in cybersecurity by transitioning from IT support into a role solely focused on security. I started by creating policies, conducting user reviews and system audits, raising awareness among employees, and conducting risk assessments. Through these efforts, I gained a deep understanding of cybersecurity and was able to make a difference in the security of my organization.

Despite the challenges I faced, such as not having a strong technical background and the constant evolution of cybersecurity threats and technologies, I remained determined to learn and grow. I asked questions, sought out training opportunities, and built relationships with more experienced team members to gain their support and expertise. By embracing the challenge of constantly evolving cybersecurity threats, I remained proactive in my learning and ultimately became a successful cybersecurity professional.”

Jackline Nyamuiru Maina — Cybersecurity Engineer

“I got started in 2019, almost a year after campus mainly through mentorship, internship and peer learning. I started by going through fundamentals of various domains such as Network security, Forensics, Reverse engineering etc. just to see what all entails and find my interest. With time, I became keen with Application security; the thrill to find bugs in applications; Mobile and Webwhich we use all the time and made a career out of it.

The main challenge I have had to counter is my perfectionism nature and the need to grasp everything all at once. Being patient with myself and enjoying the learning journey has helped me solve this as I’m now able to achieve productivity with less burnout.

My advice to anyone still starting, is to get conversant with different subjects and finding what captivates you most, once you find out what that is, Invest in learning everything about it on a continuous basis.”

Maletsema Phofu — Subsidiary Security Operations

“What a journey it was. I started out in IT Management and Application development. Then one day there was an open position as a senior advisor in the Information security department which I gave it a chance and this began my career path. The role was to overlook the entire security of the power stations but later on the cybersecurity department was broken down to different domains. I worked on several of them including Network, Host and Endpoint, SOC and Vendor management. I have learnt on the job my entire cybersecurity career and continuously read to understand both the technical and managerial aspects. I moved to a bank where I overlooked the entire platform lifecycle that is based on maturing several systems including decommissioning. Working with engineers makes you understand the need to give your team room to be explorative and innovative while trusting they will achieve what’s required of them.

The one thing I have learnt as a manager is to have trust in your team to be able to achieve the goals. Let your team actually feel that you trust them to deliver. Be open as a manager to understand that there are several systems and one wouldn’t know all of them, both of you could help each other understand the solutions and how to work with them. Give your team members room to innovate, grow, make mistakes, learn from different challenges and implement them. Understand the capabilities of your team based on the requirements, for example in the event of an incident it is important to know who are the key people to help resolve that specific challenge in a short period of time.

The best advice I would give anyone is there is no shame in asking. There are different tools and all have different functionality. Knowing and internalizing everything will always help. Don’t forget exploration in the tech world is very key.”

Lisa Maina — Presales Architect Cybersecurity

“I studied Computer & Advanced Telecommunication Engineering early on in my career then advanced to Cisco Networking following a scholarship in NSP. Becoming one of the top 20 Kenyan girls to successfully certify on 1st attempt propelled me to secure an opportunity in a corporate ISP. Over the years, I capitalized on a good support system and surrounded myself with fellows, whom we challenged each other to grow through certifications and training.

I am an agile learner and believe that every opportunity is part of the puzzle for my greater career growth; I transitioned from Networking (Cisco, VSAT, Cambridge, Fibre) to Cyber Security and to say that this is an entire Ecosystem on its own is subtlety. All my fears sparked… it’s A LOT to take in all at once because the different domains in cyber security are deep ñ vast and are constantly evolving. Ask Ask Ask, Be Inclusive, Participate…I learnt to pull my own seat without waiting to be invited and still do to date.

Develop the skills by training and Learning; remain focused all the time- 6Ps (Prepare, Practise, Passion, Persistence, Prayer, Patience).”

Faith Opiyo — Senior Technical Staff Member and Manager, Strategic Threat Hunt.

“I started out as a Network Engineer where occasionally I would do configurations, maintenance and deployments that were inline with cybersecurity requirements. This gave me passion in cybersecurity and that's how I got interested and later did an interview Palo Alto networks in Amsterdam in cybersecurity and where I started out as a network security engineer in their technical assistance center. This role ignited my interest for threat analysis and threat detection. From that point I have held several security roles and I am currently a threat hunter managing a team of threat hunters in IBM.

The biggest challenge I have faced is moving out of my comfort zone. I have suffered a lot with impostor syndrome and self -doubt and as a result limited myself. With time, I have learnt to slowly get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

The best advise I’d give to anyone is GO FOR IT. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. You may not be the best or tick all the boxes but don’t let your own self-doubt keep you out. I’d also advise anyone to find a mentor and coach that can support and guide you in your career.”

Violet Wanjiru — Cybersecurity Engineer

“My cybersecurity journey started as an attaché in an IT department where I met someone who introduced me to an online cybersecurity community (SheHacks). A couple months down the line I was open to get an attachment opportunity in a company and that was the start to my career. For two years in the company I was able to perform different roles that built my foundation. I continuously attended webinars, cybersecurity events, meetups and summits which kept me up to date with the latest trends.

The second year I grew interest in endpoint security and this has been my path as I continuously learn, improve and understand the processes and procedures. This has helped me improve in my expertise.

My advise would be, start from where you are and what you have, mentorship is very important for guidance and always say YES to new challenges. Also continuous learning and improvement is a key factor.”

Christine Wambiru — Information Security Analyst

“I am an information security analyst and my day to day responsibilities include responding to threats and incidents and provide resolution solutions. I knew I wanted to get into cybersecurity when I heard about an attack conducted by a JKUAT student back in the day I ended up going for a bootcamp in town that changed my life.

Some of the challenges I have found in my career is trying to identify where I belong and the field of interest to me because cyber security is huge with different venturing outlets. While I was in school, I explored coding and offensive security but it just didn’t spark my interest that much then when I got my first cyber security job, I heard the opportunity to venture into defensive security and every aspect of it intrigues me up to date.”

Migosi Daisy — Application Security Specialist

I got into cybersecurity by chance. I had just completed my undergraduate studies in telecommunications and for sure thought that was the career path I was going to pursue. But then an opportunity to be trained in cybersecurity presented itself and I thought to myself, why not? That question led me to this career and I have been at it since then.

I have discovered that the learning journey is non-stop and that curiosity is a necessity. It is also important to engage continuously with other peers in the field in order to grow and to build networks. My biggest obstacle, especially at the beginning, was how wide and deep the field is. Identifying what interested me and what to pursue was a challenge. However, I have learned to approach everything as an opportunity to expand your knowledge and to be open to change.

Lyovette Khavuchi — AWS Cybersecurity Specialist

“I gained interest in cybersecurity when I was 2nd year after an introduction to several units. This kicked my interest and exploration begun. First step, well switching to Linux OS and trying a couple security tools. First concepts were network security and later grew by participating in CTFs, Hackathons and most definitely YouTube tutorials always come in hand.

The biggest challenge was lack of hands-on training and mentorship. The path on where to start was not clear while I was selective on the areas I wanted to work on such as Network, web Security and Forensics. It wasn't easy to start out as an apprenticeship or entry level as most organizations needed people with beforehand skills.

Personal advise would be, being self driven and understanding what exactly you want to do is important. Read more on cybersecurity random articles and explore several tools. Cybersecurity forums and groups in Kenya have also helped me grow. Don't forget to participate in Hackathons and Fests, do some Demos and walkthroughs and don’t forget to keep practicing . Always stay updated!!!”

Mercy Mwikali — Security Consultant

“Started my cybersecurity career in Campus as I took a course in Computer Security and Forensics. I later on started my career as a junior security consultant. I was in luck to get the junior position right after campus and this has built my journey in cybersecurity. I have worked with “best” cybersecurity advisors in the Kenyan cybersecurity space and what I have learnt is the importance of networking and continuous practice.

My biggest challenge has been to try and grab everything at a go not knowing cybersecurity is always an evolving space based on the growth of tech. But I am also still learning with a keen interest in containerization and cloud computing.

The best advise would be for one to be included you have to include yourself talk to the mentors, to even organizers. Its okay not knowing but its bad not to read on it and discuss with fellow people. Don’t be fixated on one thing because we always growing and so is the industry.”

Restercuter Nyawira — Cybersecurity Consultant.

“I started my career in cybersecurity in 2018 while studying at university. While programming was popular among my peers, it didn’t pique my interest. Thankfully, a friend recognized my potential and suggested I try cybersecurity. That led me to SheHacks Ke, where I met women who shared my passion and were professionals in the field. I was thrilled when the founding team offered me a position to write articles for them, which I then shared on several channels.

This gave me the opportunity to market myself and gain visibility in the industry. Through my writing, I was able to explore different topics in cybersecurity and share my insights with others. In November 2021, I received an offer to join the SOC of a leading company in Kenya, marking the beginning of my professional journey. Despite facing challenges like imposter syndrome, I have continually worked on improving my skills and gaining confidence in my abilities.

One important lesson I have learned is the value of self-affirmation, especially when feedback is not forthcoming. Celebrating one’s own accomplishments is essential for personal growth and success.”

Jerusa Vivian — Application Security Specialist

“My undergraduate degree was computer Security which gave me a headway into the cybersecurity journey. I was introduced to most of the concepts in Campus. I later started out my career as an attaché focusing on Vulnerability assessments. I have changed roles ever since, I have done some Endpoint Security, SOC monitoring, Application Security, Access Management, Cryptography, Cloud and Database Security. This has been a rollercoaster of both good and bad. Trying to grasp everything at the same time, fear of not knowing and generally fear of failure. I have loved the thrill of a newly discovered bug, dreaded the late night incidents and log reviews, scared of approving the wrong change and loved the flow of a successful built tool that made work easier.

But I have also got the best mentors in the industry and the one person who held my hand as an attaché still stands as my mentor 4 years down the line. Pointing out the importance of mentorship and trying to figure out what works for you, the mentorship has built my career progressively because after sometime we might have become each others mentor. I also had to put in the work, understand the concepts, the problem at hand and the possible resolutions is very important. Understand the infrastructure/ application to know the best security recommendations and also the best testcases. One thing I have learnt is, its not the deep technical skills that govern growth in an organization, giving context being articulate with the risk at hand and correlating it to the business is very vital.

Starting out is scary at first, but the community is friendly, ask around, join conversations and do it both for passion. Every year statistics say there's a gap in cybersecurity skills. Create your own vision and mission, align with others a team works best with different point of views. Lastly do it for the “Chanel Bags”

“Equality is giving everyone a shoe; Equity is giving everyone a shoe that fits.” — N. Dosani Hello again

#EmbraceEquity.