Successfully defending against modern threats requires information security teams to possess the right balance of hard and soft skills for engaging business and technology groups to secure an organization. This is creating more opportunities for women from a variety of backgrounds to join this industry, make positive contributions in a variety of ways and to achieve great success. But in an industry where 9 out of 10 professionals are men, it’s easy to question what influence each of us can have over gender balance in Information Security. Through discussions with one another in this industry, it’s a common theme among women to recognize that we are not here because we woke up aspiring to be “Xena, Cyberwarrior Princess” but rather because someone identified and supported us as intellectual and capable individuals and encouraged us to pursue a career in information security.
Join our panel of women in InfoSec for an open discussion about our perspectives on being a woman in this industry. We will examine the challenges women have to manage to be successful in what is still a “man’s world” and what both men and women can do to encourage more women to consider a career in Information Security.
Laura Payne is a Senior Information Security Advisor at the Bank of Montreal. She has over 10 years of experience in the financial services industry covering a variety of roles in IT operations and information security. Laura holds a degree in Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo. When not at work, she enjoys spending time with her family, volunteering in the community, and wilderness camping. The six women participating in this keynote panel currently work in information security across a variety of sectors. With a diverse background of education including criminology, public policy, arts and engineering, and over 100 years combined experience, they bring to the table a variety of perspectives on the industry as a whole.
Alexis Lavi has an in depth knowledge of cyber security, risk management, national security policy, and ethical hacking. Currently, Alexis is a Senior Advisor for Cyber Strategy at Fortalice Solutions. At Fortalice, she manages and conducts semi-quantitative cyber risk evaluations and penetration tests for energy, defense and retail companies. She also has experience facilitating cyber attack tabletop exercises for major financial institutions, retail companies, and critical manufacturing organizations. In addition to her work at Fortalice, Alexis is the Lead Analytical Guru for Dark Cubed, a Virginia-based cyber security product company, where she is developing a probabilistic algorithm to detect cyber threats. Previously, Ms. Lavi was the Homeland Security Project Manager at a small cyber security consulting firm in Virginia. Her primary accomplishments in this role include managing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Supply Chain Risk Management Program. Alongside Sandia National Laboratories, Ms. Lavi created a supply chain risk tool to assess the risk associated with the acquisition of an information communication technology product. In addition, she assessed the national security impact of IT companies subject to Committee for Foreign Investments in the US (CFIUS) cases. In support of the Presidential Policy Directive-21, Ms. Lavi created a 40-hour “Intro to Cybersecurity” course and a 20-hour “Intermediate Cybersecurity Course” for DHS analysts. Ms. Lavi is also a contributing author to the interdisciplinary textbook, Cybersecurity Fundamentals: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Alexis received her MSc in Public Policy with a concentration in International Security from University College London and her BA in International Studies from American University.
Andrea Stapley is the Director of the Security Architecture and Planning team at Sun Life. She is responsible for setting the short and long term security strategy and roadmap for the organization globally. Andrea has been in the security and operations infrastructure field for over 25 years holding various senior roles at both Rogers and the Bank of Montreal. She has spent the past three years at Sun Life building their security program. Andrea continues to be passionate about the security industry and with all of the changes we’ve seen over the past 25 years she realizes the importance of collaboration and knowledge sharing amongst security peers. Our organizations are much stronger when we work together and share intel, it will be the key to our joint success as we move forward in this fast paced industry.
Julie Leo is a Relationship Manager for Security Consulting, IT Risk Centre of Governance at RBC. She received an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Crime, Law, and Deviance from the University of Toronto; with a minor in Philosophy and Sociology. With experience across multiple information security domains; such as, Identity and Access Management and Software Security, Julie also has experience as a Customer Service Representative; allowing her to learn the ins and outs of the products and services a financial institution may offer to clients, as well as, the internal processes that take place at the branch level. With this experience, and a growing interest in Information Security Consulting and IT Risk Management, Julie utilizes her knowledge and expertise to support IT project implementations and various business initiatives across the enterprise. In previous roles, Julie has specialized in various enterprise-wide implementations; such as, the rollout of an automated Identity Manager tool and Access Certification program, before transitioning to the world of Software Security. With a focus across all technology teams, Julie led the communication, education, and reporting function and supported the secure SDLC strategy. Today, she serves the enterprise with the intake and initial assessment for security consulting services for project, application, and third-party assessments. In offering her time to various events and committees within the industry, Julie has led several annual employee giving campaigns, as a Senior Ambassador for her organization, and currently holds a seat, as co-chair, on the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) committee for planning the Canadian Financial Institutions – Computer Incident Response Team (CFI-CIRT) professional development day.
Karen Nemani is a dedicated senior security professional with almost two decades of experience across the field of information security. She is an innovative information security strategist who enjoys working with clients to demystify their security risk. Her career has included roles that established successful information security programs and her work has directly influenced the creation and design of highly secure, complex information technology infrastructures. A champion of security both professionally and in her community, Karen enjoys engaging, educating and growing new talent and works in support of women considering a career in information security.
Marilyn Blamire has worked at TD Bank, in the Financial Services Technology world for over 35 years, in development, design, architecture, business and process analysis, and most recently Information Security. Over that time, the use of technology has changed beyond imagination and the criminals who seek gain have adapted to take advantage of it. Marilyn’s passion is for people, and helping them understand how the things they do every day have a major impact on how safe we are. She is active in the Women in Leadership program at TD, and hopes that someday we will see a significant increase in the number of women in the Security and Risk professions. Marilyn has a Bachelor of Mathematics degree from the University of Waterloo.