“We’re all in this together”

When I sat down to write the introduction to this month’s issue the theme—Improving Security Together—had me a little stumped. After all, I’m not actively improving the security of anything, so what could I possibly have to say on the matter?

However, a conversation with a reader proved me wrong and reminded me we are all working on improving security in our own ways. The very existence of this magazine, and the runaway success of the Women in Security Awards, are two examples of collaboration improving security.

This year the industry came together to support the awards, nominating more than 800 inspiring individuals. That was nearly four times the 232 nominated in the first year of the awards, twice the 468 nominated in the second year and a significant increase on the 624 nominations we received in 2021.

As that timeless Yazz song says, the only way is up!

Each year the awards recognise a cohort of amazing men and women who are creating positive change by setting an example for their peers, their mentees and themselves. “If you can see it, you can be it,” the saying goes.

Behind each of those nominations is a story of collaboration; of people working together to make a positive impact on society. The awards honour their achievements in their professional lives and their ability to collaborate with others to further the cause of diversity and achievement in cybersecurity.

Similarly, our team at Source2Create is regularly collaborating with industry bodies, organisations and supporters to generate interest and build public awareness of the security industry.

We are helping to create the future we have always wanted, by uniting the world one country at a time. Although we started in Australia we have also recently launched in New Zealand, and who knows where the awards will end up next!

Without many organisations in the industry coming together this initiative would never have worked. Each of the organisations we work with offers a different array of industry events, awards, education, mentor programs, leadership programs, workshops, community meetups and more. Because the associations, companies and individuals I partner with all share the same vision, mission and values we have been able to collaborate to make the security industry a better place to work.

We are, as the lovely reader pointed out, working together to improve security. And that’s the strength of the industry: security belongs to everyone, so a focus on awareness and education creates a great framework for enhancing and advancing the industry.

This magazine’s sole purpose is to support our partners’ values and their collective mission: to make the online world safer. It is a platform that highlights the journeys of women today as they become the leaders of tomorrow. It is an assemblage of creative and innovative women and men contributors, award nominees, students and the many other people working for the good of this industry.

We collaborate with industry experts and security experts from around the world who have come together to enhance global security by promoting good practice, information sharing and continuous discussion, and by taking action to achieve diversity, inclusion and equality.

By doing so we provide a single voice and create lasting networks and alliances for knowledge sharing in Australia, New Zealand and around the world. This manifests in many ways. In this issue you will learn about the way teams, associations, schools and individuals have come together to create positive change in the security industry.

You never know how easy it is to break a glass ceiling until you get close enough to touch it. By working together we are giving current and future generations of security workers a leg up so they can not only touch the glass ceiling but break it into thousands of tiny pieces.

As we see time and time again, we are all more powerful when we empower each other. And if I know I am playing even a small part in this empowerment I can put aside the concerns I mentioned earlier and focus on finding new ways to empower everyone around me. That’s what working together is all about, and its success so far shows that, together, we truly can change the world.