Diversity gap creates cybersecurity blind spots

EVERY year, industry reports tell the same story: women make up only a quarter of the global cybersecurity workforce - and that figure is likely far lower in South Africa.

- JULIE NOIZEUX INDER

Diverse teams bring the fresh thinking and perspectives needed for a stronger security posture.

Although the costs of this under-representation, whether by gender or ethnicity, are well-documented, there is a less obvious penalty for the lack of diverse talent: a shortage of different ways of thinking.

The skills gap in cybersecurity is widely discussed, but the perspective gap is just as critical. Cybercriminals operate across time zones, borders and cultures with unnerving success. Professional diversity is a powerful counter to this as it introduces cognitive diversity - the intellectual and strategic edge that modern security teams desperately need. Different professional experiences, thinking styles and problem-solving methods add up to better threat detection, stronger responses and fewer security blind spots.

These cognitive blind spots - the gaps, biases and assumptions we are all prone to - are hotbeds for vulnerability. A homogeneous team is far more likely to reach the same conclusion about a network anomaly, overlook how a security policy might be abused, or fail to model less obvious but highly damaging threats. A diverse team, however, is better equipped to challenge conventional wisdom and approach problems with greater nuance.