Getting more women working in cyber security will improve the effectiveness of the sector, a new report has recommended.
Only 10 per cent of people employed in cyber security are female.
The matter was discussed at a diversity workshop run by CREST, a not-for-profit accreditation and certification body representing the technical information security industry.
Ian Glover, president of CREST, said: “Increasing the number of women in cyber security is not simply for diversity’s sake, but for the sake of the industry.
“One of our attendees put it best, suggesting that by consistently taking people from the same backgrounds, we’ll keep coming up with the same approaches and solutions.
“The first step is to work out why women are not entering the industry.
“Although most of our workshop attendees agreed that cyber security is welcoming to women, the perception from outside the industry is much the opposite.
“It is clear that this is one of the major challenges we face.”
He added: “Whilst it was important to address the current diversity challenges that the sector faces, the main purpose of the workshop was to discuss and find ways to actually facilitate change.
“Areas that were felt vital when addressing the issue were education, awareness, industry perception, support, role models and barriers for entry.
“It was also felt that we had to be clear who to target with a campaign to ensure both short and long-term success.
“Finally, we discussed how to get the message across all ages, cultures and regions.”
Manchester Digital will confront the lack of gender diversity in the tech sector by running a session with several top firms.
In July British Gas launched its own women in tech network to provide a community for its female employees to network and collaborate.