In the news: SheCanCode, 15 October 2026. Written by Jenny Leah.
We're proud to see our Sales and Operations Director, Jenny Leah, featured by SheCanCode, writing on mentoring women in cyber. Women make up around 17% of UK cyber security teams, and Jenny's piece looks at why mentoring is one of the few approaches she has seen consistently make a difference, and where organisations still need to do more.
Drawing on the women she has mentored into and through cyber careers, she sets out three barriers that come up again and again: confidence, not knowing where to start in a field with no single signposted route, and the assumption that cyber is only for technical specialists. Jenny didn't come into cyber through a technical route herself, and she makes the case that the industry also needs people who can explain risk to a board, manage clients and lead teams.
"Confidence follows competence being reflected back at someone, not the other way round."
Her practical answer is mentoring that is specific, from reviewing a CV line by line to rehearsing a promotion interview. She also argues that mentoring only goes so far without the organisation behind it: sponsorship from senior leaders, deliberate choices about who is put in front of clients and credited publicly, and networks, internal or external, where women can compare notes and find support from peers.
Thank you to SheCanCode for sharing Jenny's piece.
Jenny also spoke to SC Media UK in September about the cultural barriers still facing women in cyber security. Read that piece here.
