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3rd Annual Women in Cyber Security Reception

3rd Annual Women in Cyber Security Reception

September 27, 2016 Baltimore, MD, USA

3rd Annual Women in Cyber Security Reception
3rd Annual Women in Cyber Security Reception. Photo by John Coyle.

3rd Annual Women in Cyber Security Reception

On Tuesday, September 27, 2016, the CyberWire and the Cybersecurity Association of Maryland (CAMI) were pleased to host the third annual Women in Cyber Security Reception at the Columbus Center in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. More than 120 people attended this successful networking event dedicated to both advancing and celebrating the participation of women in the cyber security profession.

"The CyberWire is pleased to convene this group of women cyber security professionals and students," the CyberWire's Director of Community Outreach and Social Media Editor Jennifer Eiben said. "When we first set out to hold this reception (with founders at CyberPoint) in 2014, we were not sure what to expect, and the response has been overwhelming with the event continuing to grow each year.  The event theme of 'Creating Connections' rings true as we hear of mentorships growing and collaborations forming amongst our guests after each event."

Stacey Smith, of the Cybersecurity Association of Maryland, said "Our organization recognizes the value of women leaders in the cybersecurity industry. Of the more than 250 Maryland cybersecurity companies in our online directory, almost 40 are woman-owned. It's important to us to initiate and support efforts to build a strong community of women cybersecurity professionals, highlight their successes and inspire more young women and girls to pursue cybersecurity careers." She also notes that many opportunities in Maryland's cybersecurity industry may be found in the organization's directory, www.MDcyber.com.

Release by Lindsay McCulloch
Oil paining entitled "Release," by Lindsay McCulloch, the winner of this years open call to artists. Photo by Full Circle.

One of the highlights of the evening was the recognition of Lindsay McCulloch, the artist whose work "Release" was selected as best expressing the event's theme: "Creating Connections." Lindsay's piece was selected following Maryland Art Place's open call to female visual artists in the greater Baltimore metropolitan area this summer. "Of the many artists who submitted, we were intrigued by her visual and process-oriented exploration of our 'creating connections' theme," Eiben said. "We appreciated Lindsay’s exploration process and how she finds 'beauty in the shifting impermanence' she discovers as she manipulates images in the course of her work. The field of cyber security depends on that shifting impermanence (you only need to look around this room for proof of that). As you all know, we are working in a field where the rules seem to be rewritten every day."

McCulloch offered some thoughts on the theme and the work she produced in response to it. "When I first saw this call, I knew my work was a perfect fit. I create my paintings based on a combination of drawings, personal photographs, and found media imagery," she said. "I then interweave digitized interference patterns throughout my pictures to simulate the gradual distortion of memory through the passage of time. Though these distortion patterns break up the original images, they create new pathways or connections that have their own meaning and importance within the picture. I hope you will find a connection between the visual pathways I am creating and the trails that you are blazing with your own important work."

The CyberWire wishes particularly to thank not only our co-hosts, the Cybersecurity Association of Maryland (CAMI), but especially our sponsors. The reception's Platinum sponsor was Cylance. Gold sponsors were Booz Allen Hamilton, Saul Ewing, and Exelon. Silver sponsors included Capital Services, ClearedJobs.net, CyberPoint International, CyberSecJobs, Delta Risk, EY, IBM, and Redacted. AiTECH was the women-owned Spotlight sponsor.

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