Category Archives: women in tech

My First Keynote: Lookout S(h)ecurity Bootcamp Toronto

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Lookout Security in Toronto is hosting an exciting event on January 12 2018 for women who are interested in  cybersecurity, and currently in the tech field.  I am honoured to have been asked to be the keynote speaker at this event. This will be my first keynote! I love that this happens with something I really care about: encouraging women in tech, specifically in cybersecurity.

This is what it’s all about.  Encourage learning, growth and opportunity. Events like these grow far beyond the one day they are held, as I can attest from my work with The Diana Initiative. Friendships form, bonds are made, contacts and networking happen. It’s all good!

This is going to be a fantastic and fun day of learning. You had me at reverse engineering! What a great opportunity. Thank you Lookout!

Getting Things Done

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Dedication. Vision. Accomplishment. Passion. These are the forces of change within cyber security, and just some of the distinctive qualities about the guests Dr. Gary McGraw featured for an entire year on his Silver Bullet podcast.

We know there is a shortage of women, of diversity, in science and technology careers, particularly in cyber security.  Rather than make that the focus, this series and these women tell stories that resonate. They share their experiences, and their passion for what they do enfuses each conversation.  There are no rockstars or grandstanders here because there is no room for ego when there is work to be done.

These are my role models, my teachers, my heroes. They illuminate the darkness of our own ignorance about medical device security; making security meaningful to those outside our security enclave; understanding the power of digital forensics; crafting not just secure code but a security mindset within development.

This series is so much more than just an homage to women in tech. There is tremendous strength to be realized in our diversity; within our differences are the tools and solutions we seek for what lies ahead. I am so honoured to have been included. Thank you!

Live from Vegas! Hacker Summer Camp is this Week!

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3 cons. 4 talks. No sleep. Lol. Well I did get some finally. It has been a whirlwind and I love it. Every glorious second!

BSidesLV has been the best yet. 3rd year for me. Volunteered as speaker liaison, which I love because I give talks. It’s about helping them feel more confident, ready to step up and own that moment. I also had the early bird shift in the lobby as greeter. Since I am a morning person, 6:00 a,m Vegas time was fine with me. Besides, you can’t beat watching the sun come up over the desert hills.

I was a mentor to a terrific speaker. BSides has the Proving Grounds track to encourage and enable folks to give talks. It’s how I got started, and I will forever be grateful.  And mentoring is mutually rewarding. I’ll do a separate post on it because I think it’s so vital.  My mentee, Karolyn Bachelor, gave a great talk on how to ask the right questions for the right answers. Way to go! I’ll post links.  And my other mentee from home, Nitha Suresh, gave her first talk at Proving Grounds as well. I am thrilled for both of them!

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And I had fun again this year, giving my talk in the Underground Track, picking up where I left off last year on How to Rob a Bank. This year was “Banking on Insecurity”, because the hits just keep on coming. The room was packed and my opening line went something like “Holy sh*t!” lol! We had lots of interactions and laughs about some very serious and even controversial topics in the realm of finsec and cyber security. Honestly, it was better than I could have wished for!

Now, I have two full days ahead of the little con that could. The Diana Initiative is about encouraging, empowering and supporting women in InfoSec and Tech. It rose from the ashes of what was TiaraCon, of which we will say no more.  This event comes from the heart, and what I will say is that we were so moved by the belief in what we were doing by the attendees from last year. Failure was not an option. There were people counting on us to deliver and we have made it happen. Oh my god this community and their support is amazing. Truly. I am grateful beyond words for the generosity shown.  And as being part of this extraordinary team, who pulled together, gave up sleep, work, life to make this happen – I am so blessed. Resilience. Strength. Determination. We are gonna change some lives, make a difference and have a great time doing it. The Diana Initiative – this Con is on!

TiaraCon 2017 – Alliances!

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YES! TiaraCon 2017 is a thing and  I will be part of this wonderful event again this year. July 27-28 in Vegas. We want to celebrate and encourage women and diversity in our field. We’ve heard moving stories about how attendees were inspired to go for their dreams, and to feel safe and accepted. This time we are at a new location, to be close to DefCon and where the action is: Caesar’s Palace Hotel.

Updates: Our first CFP was a tremendous success and all the acceptances have been issued. Now I must do the hardest part, which is send out the rejection letters. I’ll be crafting those carefully, because people really deserve to hear thank you.

Funding: It takes a lot to make change happen. Any amount helps us to make a difference. Visit our GoFundMe

Registration: Visit our site and sign up otherwise you won’t be able to get in. And you know you want that tiara 🙂