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Women to watch

These women stand out from cybersecurity crowd due to their dedication, innovation and tireless efforts promise future leadership in information security and privacy.


Joanne Isham, independent consultant; former deputy director, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

Paula Januszkiewicz, CEO, CQURE

Lysa Myers, security researcher, ESET

Sherri Ramsay, senior adviser, CyberPoint International

Alissa Torres, certified SANS Instructor; consultant & founder, Sibertor Forensics

Claire Vishik, trust and security technology and policy director, Intel

Georgia Weidman, CEO and founder, Bulb Security

The Women to Watch profiles may be viewed through the links above or by paging through the numbers below.



Joanne Isham, independent consultant; former deputy director, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

After an expansive career developing security solutions in both in the public and private sectors, Joanne Isham is currently working as independent consultant for a variety of clients in the defense and intelligence sectors developing strategies, identifying high-value opportunities, addressing critical challenges, and transforming their business.

Over her career, Isham has served as the SVP for L-1 Identity Solutions, chief operating officer of High Performance Technologies, VP/deputy GM of network systems at BAE System, and was a member of the Senior Intelligence Service and a career officer at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

She also served as the deputy director of the Resource Management Office of the Community Management Staff (CMS) and as CMS's director of program analysis where she oversaw budget and resource issues spanning the entire intelligence community.

Throughout her career, she has received numerous awards including the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award, and National Intelligence Medal of Achievement.

Paula Januszkiewicz, CEO, CQURE

Paula Januszkiewicz has conducted hundreds of IT security audits and penetration tests, including for government organizations, and is the CEO of her own company CQURE. She got into cybersecurity because she considers it a sustainable subject where development has no end and she enjoys dealing with the results springing from great minds. 

Her specialization is in Microsoft security solutions, for which she holds multiple certificates, and she even has access to Microsoft's source code. She has also spoken at several major security conferences and, last year, was chosen as a No. 1 Microsoft Windows Ignite speaker.

Passionate about sharing her knowledge with others, Januszkiewicz enjoys researching new technologies and has devoted herself to her passions of security consulting, penetration testing, architecture counseling, trainings and conferences. 

 “Positive thinking is always a key to success,” she says. “As long as it is there, development of security skills will come by itself!”

Lysa Myers, security researcher, ESET

Lysa Myers has more than 15 years of experience working in the trenches of cybersecurity consisted of helping companies and consumers understand security issues, analyzing malware and testing security software. She was motivated to get into cybersecurity when she saw the field had a need for the skills she had to offer.

Currently, Myers is a security researcher for ESET and provides practical analysis and advice on security trends. Over the years she has worked both within anti-virus research labs and within the third-party testing industry. 

She has also successfully predicted future developments in the ever-changing malware landscape and has had her research featured in several major publications and referenced in a college course. 

Myers is passionate about fighting malware and cybercrime and enjoys educating people about security issues in a light-hearted, honest and approachable way.

“I would say it's important for women entering the technology industry to understand that you don't have to be perfect, and that it's actually a good thing to fail sometimes,” she says. “Failing simply means you're testing the edges of your capabilities.”

Sherri Ramsay, senior adviser, CyberPoint International

Sherri Ramsay has been fighting cybercriminals, hacktivists and other cyber threats since the 1990s. She is currently the senior adviser at CyberPoint International and is engaged in strategy development and planning, partnership development and marketing. 

She is the former director of the National Security Agency/Central Security Service Threat Operations Center (NTOC) and a former member of the board of directors of the Armed Forces Communications Electronic Administration (AFCEA). 

As the NTOC director, Ramsay led the discovery and characterization of cyber threats and coordinated efforts to counter threats for the DOD, DHS and FBI.

She serves on the board of advisers for the Hume Research Center at Virginia Tech and on the board of directors for EiQ Networks.

“I think the difference between my career and the career of today's young women, is that today's women can be much more informed and have many more career choices available to them than me,” Ramsay says.

Alissa Torres, certified SANS Instructor; consultant & founder, Sibertor Forensics

With experience in information security spanning government, academic and corporate environments, Alissa Torres is a SANS instructor, specializing in advanced computer forensics and incident response. She is also a consultant and founder of her own security firm Sibertor Forensics.

Torres previously served as part of the Mandiant Computer Incident Response Team (MCIRT) as an incident handler and has workied on an internal security team as a digital forensic investigator. She has presented at several industry conferences and B-Sides events and in addition to being a GIAC Certified Forensic Analyst (GCFA), she holds the GCFE, GPEN, GREM, CISSP, EnCE, CFCE, MCT and CTT+.

Claire Vishik, trust and security technology and policy director, Intel

An expert on cybersecurity and privacy, among other things, Claire Vishik is active in developing research and development strategies through organizations like the Cybersecurity Research Alliance and strategy efforts around the world. 

She is a member of the Permanent Stakeholders Group of the European Network and Information Security Agency, is active in standards development, and is on the board of directors of the Trusted Computing Group. 

Vishik also serves as an adviser to a number of projects and initiatives, has authored several papers and reports (her work has been cited hundreds of times), and has more than 30 pending and granted U.S. patents. 

Her work at Intel focuses on hardware security and hardware-based cryptography, Trusted Computing, privacy-enhancing technologies, verification and assurance, and related policy issues. She has also spoken on the need for a new language to quantify trust in the digital world.

Georgia Weidman, CEO and founder, Bulb Security

As the CEO and founder of the security firm Bulb Security and founder of her own venture-backed product company Shevirah, Georgia Weidman is a born leader in the field of cybersecurity. She is a serial entrepreneur, penetration tester, security researcher, speaker, trainer and author.

She has done hands-on security training and has researched smartphone security for a hacker-minded project that was funded by the former Cyber Fast Track program of the U.S. Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA). She enjoys working with her clients to build policies and products that improve their overall security posture and showing them the methods attackers often use to target their systems.

Weidman has a MS degree in computer science, secure software engineering, and information security and also holds a number of certifications. She has presented her work at conferences and also delivered highly technical security training at conferences, hacker spaces and schools.

“Much of information security...is about finding ways around security controls,” Weidman says. “I like to think of HR's list of requirements for a position or the unwritten rules of entry into the hacker community the same way. By thinking outside the box, you can find other ways to differentiate yourself from the applicant pool.” 






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