On Women, Cyber-feminism and Information Security: Assessing security threats by gender

The continued rise in information security threats has created a sustained risk to the competitiveness of businesses using computerised technology globally. It is posited that employees are the weakest link to the security of information systems across these businesses. The persistent affirmative campaigns in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has seen a steady rise in women entering the Information Technology (IT) industry. This has presented new opportunities for women to play a more meaningful and significant contribution to IT in the advent of cyber-feminism which challenges the traditional paradigms where men accounted for higher percentages of sophisticated use of IT. The study addresses efficacy and the growth in confidence of career women in IT. The work presents insight regarding how information security threats are now being usurped by gender roles, where men are no longer seen as the primary malefactors for these threats. The research agenda offered suggests that as more women become STEM induced and play crucial roles in IT, women have started to account for security threats in organisations. It is theorised that gender will no longer be a factor in determining security threat. The implications for these concerns are addressed in the main body of work.

Jide Oyebisi Njenga