For a long time, I thought cyber security wasn’t for me. In fact, I resisted it.
When people hear that I now lead a cyber security company, they often assume I must have been the ‘techie kid’ growing up. The one dismantling computers or writing code in my spare time. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. I didn’t choose cyber. If anything, I tried to avoid it.
Like many women, I initially imagined a career in a profession that felt familiar and accessible. My mother was a nurse, and for a while I thought I might follow a similar path into a female-dominated profession. Life, of course, had other plans.
A career that didn’t start in cyber
Before joining Net-Defence, I spent 19 years at multinational consumer goods company Procter & Gamble. My role sat firmly in the world of administration and accountancy.
At the time, I didn’t see it as preparation for a career in cyber security. I saw it as a practical, structured career where attention to detail mattered, and processes needed to work properly. What I didn’t realise then was how transferable those skills would become down the line.
Eventually, my career path shifted into IT audit work, followed by governance, risk, and compliance (GRC). These roles weren’t about writing code or configuring networks. They were about understanding risk, analysing systems, and making sure the right controls were in place. In other words, they were about asking the right questions.
Today, as Managing Director at Net-Defence, I still rely on the same mindset I developed in finance and accountancy: curiosity, precision, and the willingness to investigate when something doesn’t quite add up. Cyber security needs those skills just as much as it needs technical know-how.
“You don’t need a computer science degree to build a successful career in cyber security. You need curiosity and the confidence to ask the difficult questions.”
The reality is that modern cyber security is far broader than people realise. Yes, technical specialists are essential. But so are people who understand risk, governance, business operations, communication, and leadership.
At Net-Defence, we actively encourage people to explore different paths within the business. Some colleagues have moved from operational roles into governance and compliance. Others have developed new specialisms as their careers progressed.
Promoting from within and supporting people to develop new skills has always been important to us. Because the truth is simple: cyber security needs more than just technical thinkers. It needs diverse perspectives and experiences.
Women in tech: progress, but not enough
Encouragingly, the number of women entering the tech industry is increasing. According to the BCS 2025 Gender Diversity Report, women now make up 22% of the UK’s IT specialist workforce, up from 21% the previous year. That equates to approximately 441,000 women working as IT specialists across the UK today.
That progress matters. But if we look more closely at the data, another story emerges. The challenge isn’t simply getting women into the industry. It’s keeping them there.
Research suggests that around 50% of women leave the tech sector by the age of 35. Ironically, this is often the point when many professionals are reaching the peak of their technical capability and preparing to move into leadership roles.
In other words, the industry is losing experienced talent just as it becomes most valuable. The reasons behind this are complex, but flexibility plays a significant role.
Around 40% of women who leave the sector cite caregiving responsibilities as the primary reason. Yet in the tech industry, only 13% of women work part-time, compared with 35% across other sectors.
That gap tells its own story. For many professionals, the message is clear: technology careers can sometimes feel like an all-or-nothing choice.
And that’s a problem the industry needs to address. Because when experienced professionals leave the sector, we don’t just lose technical capability. We lose leadership potential, perspective, and mentorship for the next generation.
Changing the narrative around cyber careers
One of the things I care about most is changing how people perceive cyber security careers. Too often, the industry unintentionally makes itself feel inaccessible.
The language can be overly technical and jargon-heavy. Job descriptions can be hugely intimidating. The narrative sometimes suggests that unless you’ve been coding since you were fresh out of nappies, you don’t belong. And that simply isn’t true.
Cyber security is fundamentally about problem-solving, risk management, and protecting people and organisations. Those skills exist across countless professions.
People with backgrounds in finance, law, project management, customer service, operations, sales, and communications all bring valuable perspectives into the world of cyber.
At Net-Defence, our mission has always been about eliminating fear, not exploiting it. That applies to the way we support clients, but also to the way we think about recruitment and career development.
We need to stop presenting cyber as an exclusive technical club and start showing it for what it really is: a dynamic industry where people with different skills can build meaningful careers. That’s why I continue to speak about these topics whenever I have the opportunity, whether that’s in schools, universities or to business networks.
Young people, especially young women, need to see that careers in cyber security don’t require them to fit a narrow mould. And professionals considering a career change need to understand that the skills they already have may be far more relevant than they realise.
Why the industry needs diverse thinkers
Cyber security is ultimately about understanding people as much as it is about understanding technology. Attackers exploit human behaviour. They exploit trust, communication breakdowns, and process gaps. Solving those challenges requires more than a streak of technical brilliance.
It requires analytical thinkers, communicators, investigators, and leaders. It requires people who ask those difficult questions and challenge assumptions. In other words, it requires people who might not consider themselves ‘techies’ at all.
So, if you’re reading this and thinking cyber security sounds interesting but you don’t have a technical background, I’d encourage you to reconsider that assumption. Your skills might be exactly what the industry needs.
And if we want cyber security to truly evolve, we need to continue welcoming people with different experiences, perspectives, and career paths. Because the future of cyber security won’t be built by one type of thinker. It will be built by many.
If you’d like to continue to conversation with me, please feel free to send me a connection request on LinkedIn. I’m always happy to chat.
