INI ATTENDS WICYS 2023 AND CELEBRATES ORGANIZATION’S 10TH ANNIVERSARY

On the heels of WiCyS’s 10^th anniversary, the INI returned as a gold sponsor for WiCyS 2023, the organization’s annual conference which was held in Denver, Colorado from March 16-18. Started in 2013, WiCyS has grown into an organization representing a leading alliance between trailblazers from academia, government, and industry.

“The INI is proud to be a longstanding supporter and partner with WiCyS and join them in celebrating their 10^th Anniversary,” said Dena Haritos Tsamitis, director of the Information Networking Institute (INI) and the Barbara Lazarus Professor of Information Networking. “The INI has sponsored WiCyS’s annual conference since its inception in 2014 and once again had a strong representation of INI students, faculty and staff in attendance to make meaningful connections.”

MSMITE student Asmita Sawhney traveled to Denver to attend her first WiCyS: “I had an amazing experience at the WiCyS conference! Being surrounded by so many powerful and talented women was an uplifting experience. My conversations with other students and industry professions were very encouraging and taught me valuable lessons in networking and navigating a career in cybersecurity.”

For Asmita, one of the highlights was the keynote from Barbara Kosloski, VP at Optum, on being brave and having a growth mindset. “These lessons were reinforced in the conversations I had with other attendees who all came from varying backgrounds,” said Asmita.

Neha Gautam (MSIT-IS) was impressed with the tremendous number of resources at attendees’ disposal. “WiCyS conference offered a wide range of topics, sessions and formats for every technical woman. I got a chance to participate in lightning talks, presentations, panels, workshops, career fairs, and a lot more,” said Neha.

One of the high points of the conference was the career fair. “I’ve attended a few career fairs,” said Rakshitha Raghu Ghorpade, MSIT-IS, “but at WiCyS, I believe the companies were serious… they made it a point to reach out to me if they said they would.”

The WiCyS conference includes the “Career Village” where attendees can meet with professionals for mock-interviews, resume reviews and mentorship. The WiCyS 2023 Career Village held 30-minute presentations on different career topics by professionals in the field.

Neha found the Career Village particularly rewarding. “I loved the speed mentoring sessions and the Career Village which were a great chance to meet some security experts, discuss interesting challenges, and get constructive feedback on resumes.”

Some attendees like Yikun Liu, an MSIS student, were able to attend one of the many self-organized meet-ups, an opportunity for students and professionals to make connections and share skills and techniques in their respected fields. “I had the pleasure of attending a Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst meet-up with a group of women from the financial, government and telecommunications industries,” shared Yikun.

INI faculty member Dr. Hanan Hibshi participated in a presentation directed at industry about secure coding practices with University of Georgia professor Diane Stephens.

WiCyS is a premier event to connect and encourage women in the field of cybersecurity, “To be able to experience the energy and surrealness of being in the company of so many phenomenal women was amazing,” said Neha as she thought back on her experience.

“I learned of cutting-edge security research, while also feeling empowered through my conversations with other attendees and speakers. I would recommend this conference to all women looking to enter the cybersecurity industry,” added Asmita.

“It was truly a friendly and inclusive environment. I was able to connect with so many amazing women in cybersecurity and their insights would benefit me throughout my career,” said Yikun about her personal experience at WiCyS 2023.