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Why it's a great time for women in cyber security: An interview with Nerissa Thakurdas

Nerissa Thakurdas

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Nerissa Thakurdas

Nerissa Thakurdas, Head of Security Operations Centre at Falanx Cyber, and Women in Tech Excellence Award winner celebrated 15 years in IT last month. She talks to Computing about some of the challenges that she has had to overcome, and shares her views on how the cyber security industry can increase its diversity.

Over the last 15 years, Nerissa Thakurdas has worked her way from first and second line help desk support, through field engineering into service desk and technology leadership positions at complex organisations including London Luton Airport and Harrods. Thakurdas won the Outstanding Transformation Award at the Women in Tech Excellence Awards in 2021 and is on the judging panel for this years awards.

What is Thakurdas looking for in this years winners?

"It can be quite challenging being a woman in IT. Most women working in IT will be able to relate to that but I'm looking forward to seeing how nominees can demonstrate how they might have overcome these challenges in terms of being bold, being brave, and stepping out of their comfort zones."

Thakurdas is certainly no stranger to stepping out of her own comfort zone. She made the switch to cyber security earlier this year and now heads up the Security Operations Centre (SOC) at Falanx Cyber. She's also had to overcome plenty of challenges herself.

"Whilst it can be difficult to be a woman in IT, it can be more difficult being a young woman in IT. Then to top that off being a young Asian woman in IT."

"There are a lot of stereotyped expectations. Even though I'm 32 now and I've been in the industry for 15 years, I've had people assume that I'm immature and that I can't know what I'm talking about.

"Being an Asian, there are personal stereotypes that make it more difficult building relationships and contacts. I've had assumptions made about me, that I can't eat certain foods or that I don't drink alcohol. I don't think people should really make those assumptions. I've had to deal with that on many different occasions."

Thakurdas also raises the double standards that under-represented groups have to tolerate, particularly when it comes to expression and tone. Men working in technology tend not to expend too much mental energy worrying about whether they're perceived as being aggressive or emotional, probably because they haven't ever been advised to "calm down," or "watch their tone." The same cannot be said for women - particularly Black and Asian women. Thakurdas explains:

"Being a woman I feel as though I can't express myself in the same way that a man can, because if a man was to say something in a certain tone, it would be seen as acceptable. If I was to say the exact same thing in the exact same tone, it would be seen as maybe I'm being too emotional or too aggressive."

Making the move to cyber security

Despite having to overcome these biases, Thakurdas is a great advocate for women in technology, particularly in the realm of cyber security, where she's been since earlier this year.

"I've learned a lot. I think it's such an exciting time for women to be in this field within this industry. There is so much more awareness of cyber security generally. Companies are actively wanting to increase budgets , and there is so much more investment going into the cyber security space."

Women are still very much in the minority within the SOC that Thakurdas manages but she is hopeful that this balance can be improved as the company grows. Cyber security is also, Thakurdas notes, "a very white space." She recounts her frustration at being sent six versions of the same person when recruiting for her team recently.

What does she think the industry can do to attract more diverse candidates? Like just about everyone else who has an interest in tech diversity, Thakurdas thinks that the problem has to be tackled at multiple stages of the pipeline.

"I think they need to target girls in secondary schools and colleges when those early decisions are being made and try to make them aware of the sheer variety of options. For instance, you can do a degree in cybersecurity now which is a relatively new development."

Having said that, Thakurdas is also a strong advocate of taking a more vocational route into technology as she did herself. The idea that you have to be a graduate to pursue a career in tech is a falsehood that the industry would do well to debunk if it wants to begin making a dent in the digital skills shortage. Thakurdas also believes that celebrating the achievements of women is important - it's one of the reasons she agreed to be a judge for the Women in Tech Excellence Awards.

"Celebrating women and their talents and what they're bringing to their employers is really important," she says. "It's also about celebrating diversity and showing how diversity of talent has helped a company grow or become more successful. I think companies definitely need to do a lot more of that."

Computing and CRN host the Women in Tech Festival live in London on 3 November and digitally on 9 November.

Join us to learn how the industry can keep championing diversity and make positive changes. Find your sense of belonging as we bring together the tech industry to collaborate, learn, and grow. Find out more here

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