Ann Barron-DiCamillo
“Cyber truly is a team sport.”
Ann Barron-DiCamillo began her career with aspirations that didn’t include the cybersecurity industry.
She thought her career would be on Capitol Hill working in politics. Unfortunately for politics (but great for cyber!), she became disillusioned. Yet, when she had the opportunity to build a congressman’s website, she was energized about tech. A self-starter, she took classes in HTML and soon went back to school for an MS in Information Systems.
Now, a cyber veteran with 20 years in the business, she is proud to work in an industry where information sharing helps keep us all a little safer. She believes in order to attract more women to the industry, we need to dispel the myths surrounding it and share why women in cyber can thrive.
What has surprised you about working in cyber?
Cybersecurity still feels like a small community in some ways, as there is so much collaboration across our network where “one person’s detection is another’s prevention.” Cyber truly is a team sport!
Words of advice for women interested in a career in cyber?
Change your inner dialogue. It’s great to strive to improve, just don’t hyperfocus on the negative thoughts. And create your network.
What do you love about cyber?
I love how no two days are ever the same! I don’t think I could ever work in a ‘wash, rinse, repeat’ type job, and having a career in cybersecurity is definitely a continuous learning experience, which I also love!
What do you do for fun?
I’m an avid runner and spend lots of time under the orange lights at Orangetheory Fitness (just crossed over 1700 classes completed!).
