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CyberWire Daily

Dr. Jessica Barker: Cybersecurity has a huge people element to it. [Socio-technical] [Career Notes]

CyberWire Daily

N2K Networks, Inc.

Tech News, News, Daily News, Technology

4.81.1K Ratings

🗓️ 6 October 2024

⏱️ 8 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Enjoy this encore episode where we are joined by Co-founder and socio-technical lead at Cygenta, Dr. Jessica Barker, as she shares her story from childhood career aspirations of becoming a farmer to her accidental pivot to working in cybersecurity. With a PhD in civic design, Jessica looked at the creation of social and civic places until she was approached by a cybersecurity consultancy interested in the human side of cybersecurity. She jumped in and the rest is history. Having experienced some negativity as a woman in cybersecurity, Jessica is a strong proponent of diversity in the field. She suggests that newcomers to the industry follow what interests them and jump in. And, we thank Jessica for sharing her story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:12.0

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0:38.2

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0:44.3

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1:02.3

My name is Dr Jessica Barker, and I'm the co-founder of a cyber security company called Sygenta.

1:11.6

I really wanted to be a farmer when I was very little. I loved animals, I still do, and I guess I had a very romantic idea of what it meant to be a farmer.

1:18.6

I probably didn't realize how much hard work goes into that.

1:22.6

But that was the first thing I can remember wanting to do as a job.

1:34.3

When I was going through school, I've always been very interested in people, so I always felt that I would work with people.

1:37.3

But at the same time, I joined kind of electronics type clubs with my friends. But as I got to my GCSE, so as I got to kind of age 14, 15, 16, I sort of felt like, okay,

1:53.0

so the tech stuff is a hobby and I need to focus a bit more now on what I'm likely to do

1:59.0

or the kind of area I'm likely to work in and that's going to be

2:02.4

with people. So I moved away then from tech. I started working in urban regeneration and I worked

2:12.2

on social inclusion projects and from there I worked with the University of Liverpool, who suggested, was I interested in maybe doing a PhD?

2:23.5

So I actually then moved to do a PhD in civic design. And so then I was looking at kind of the creation of societies and the creation of social and civic places.

2:35.0

And from there, ended up in cybersecurity.

2:42.0

It was a complete accident that I then ended up working in cybersecurity.

...

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