Melissa Bischoping is no stranger to overcoming adversity. From becoming a mother at 18 to breaking into the IT security industry with a non-technical degree and no experience, she has navigated the still male-dominated industry and is now Director of Endpoint Security Research at cyber firm Tanium.
Bischoping is keen to promote Women’s Equality Day, which takes place on Saturday, August 26 in the U.S.
Along with analysing emerging threats, zero-days, CVEs, exploits, and attack behaviour to advise both internal and external customers at Tanium, Bischoping also is an active member of the cyber community.
Bischoping is the first woman to captain a varsity SANS team in the National Cyber League “Capture The Flag” competition and recently convened with members of the Dutch Ministries at the Tanium Federal Conference in Washington, DC to offer insights on cyber resilience.
Through such activities, Bischoping is a role model for aspirant young women keen on taking up a place in a STEM career.
Bischoping tells Digital Journal about strides that have been taken in the technology sector to promote the role of women at work: “It’s no secret that tech has diversity, equity, and inclusion challenges. We’ve seen some progress over the years, but we still have a lot of work to do today. Women and nonbinary professionals make up less than half of the workforce, with women making up a third of the tech workforce. Even fewer make up executive and leadership roles.”
However, there remains more work to do. Here Bischoping puts forward: “To improve these statistics, we need to start at the ground level in the classrooms of local schools by creating a pipeline and fostering educational programs early on in life for students. At the workforce level, we must also be vigilant in eliminating sexism, harassment and toxic behaviour and comments that can lead to burnout and isolation among women. Research has shown time and again that diverse teams are needed for flourishing, innovative organizations that yield better results.”
In outlining a strategy, Bischoping proposes: “Mentorship, in particular, has been vital to my own career as a woman in cybersecurity. There have been key women leaders in my career that had a direct impact on my professional and personal growth. The training programs are needed, but professional networking opportunities and 1-1 mentorship is where confidence is built and action plans are put into place.”
In terms of other activities, Bischoping observes: “I also think it’s extremely vital to create paths for nontraditional degrees or experiences. Cybersecurity requires creativity, thinking outside the box and collaboration across various areas within a business. There is so much untapped potential if we are only opening the door to those with formal IT or security training. Creating these pathways will help us close the millions of open cybersecurity seats we see today.”
