UK Spies Fund New Course for Female Coders

The UK’s main intelligence agency for working with cyber-threats is hoping to bring in more woman coders to its ranks with a new bootcamp class.

GCHQ is sponsoring one particular of the 14-week ‘nanodegree’ classes run by social company Code 1st Ladies, developed to charm to gals who may be looking at a career change.

Jo Cavan, the director of system policy and engagement at the security agency, told The Guardian that teams these kinds of as those in counter-terrorism have seen functionality improve given that getting to be far more diverse.

“We have been performing really hard to increase that quantity so we have a lot more varied groups and far better get throughout the threats we require to these days,” she included.

“We know that if we get the ideal combine of minds it will give us a competitive edge and that’s why we talk labour variety as staying mission critical.”

One critical location GCHQ demands better variety to make improvements to its standing is in countering threats from the east, Cavan claimed.

“If you glimpse at China, for case in point, and how technology is relocating east and China is looking to impose non-western values on technology, there is some really important operate for us to do there to make sure we are at the forefront of shaping these international technology requirements and norms,” she reported.

“So it is important to have a numerous group looking at those people threats and the chances that arrive from some of those technologies.”

In accordance to certifications group ISC2, ladies even now occupy only 25% of roles in the cybersecurity sector globally.

Interestingly its 2021 marketplace report discovered that much less women of all ages (38%) in the marketplace arrived from an IT background than adult males (50%), and that females have bigger charges of entry from self-understanding than adult males (20% vs. 14%).

These figures indicate there could be a possibly huge pool of female career-seekers seeking to change career to one particular in cyber.

Companies like protection contractor BAE Programs already operate with Code Initially Ladies in a very similar way to GCHQ, sponsoring bootcamp courses which then present a talent pipeline for the business and opportunities for graduates.

Some sections of this posting are sourced from:
www.infosecurity-magazine.com