Security

International Women’s Day: 3 IT Security Leaders to Know

Influential women are making their mark on how organizations secure their networks. Here are three worth knowing.

Bob is the managing editor of BizTech magazine.

With the RSA Conference wrapping up just as International Women’s Day arrives, it’s worth taking a moment to recognize the vital contribution that women tech leaders are making right now to help organizations keep their data safe.

The three IT leaders below are among countless women striving to secure their networks from increasingly sophisticated hackers using the very latest attack methodologies.

Read on to learn about the focus of their efforts, and give a shout out to other women in IT you’d like to recognize @BizTechMagazine.

SEE MORE: Read about one woman's journey to IT success.

Holly Ridgeway

The chief security officer of Citizens Bank has much to protect: Hers is the 13th-largest retail bank in the United States, with 1,100 branches and more than $119 billion in depositors’ money. Ridgeway told us that staying ahead of hackers requires constant vigilance.

Threat actors continue to evolve and devise new ways to monetize cyberattacks, whether it’s via cryptomining, ransomware, point-of-sale malware, or attacks against payment networks and ATM infrastructure.”

Holly Ridgeway Chief Security Officer, Citizens Bank

Photo credit: Jason Grow

Follow @CitizensBank

Learn more about the top cyberthreats that Ridgeway is seeing right now:

Q&A Citizens Bank Security Chief Holly Ridgeway on Keeping Hackers at Bay

Liz Sturrock

The National Association of Realtors is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.3 million members. As its vice president of IT, Sturrock knows that her industry is in threat actors’ crosshairs. She described how she’s working to help keep her association, its members — and homebuyers — safe.

As a consumer, when you purchase a home, you should be confident that all of your data is secure, that all of your financial information is safe, so that you can absolutely close that transaction as quickly as you possibly want to.”

Liz Sturrock Vice President of IT, National Association of Realtors

Photo courtesy of Liz Sturrock

Follow @NARdotRealtor

Learn more about the work Sturrock is doing at the National Association of Realtors:

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Patricia DuBois

As the senior director of IT for Orion Group Holdings, a leading specialty construction company providing services on and off the water throughout much of North America and the Caribbean, DuBois knows that every company is vulnerable to attack, whatever its size.

Security is important to any size company, whether you’re big, small, working with Big Data or small data. It’s really critical that you’re protecting not only your data but your employees and your customers.”