What do we need to
do to bring more women
to the IT industry?

I have worked on the content analysis technology development team for almost 10 years.

One day, a very long time ago, I became a content manager as my second job. That’s when I set my foot on the “path of content” – from content generation to content exploration and analysis. My education as an art historian and my career lie in completely different planes, but, strangely enough, overall, everything I learned at university is helping me a lot in my work.

My work requires not only a specific set of professional skills, but also an understanding of trends in music, fashion, technology, and culture. One of my tasks is development of the Parental Control component.

Unfortunately, we live in a pretty conservative society, which still has established stereotypes of “female” and “male” professions. But I don’t see this in IT, where a female coder is a cause for delight rather than surprise. The world is changing for the better on the whole, and modern companies see value in professionalism and ability to think rather than in gender prejudice. It could just be that because our industry is progressive, and that makes our thinking more progressive, too :)

At high school, I always had an interest in sciences, in technical subjects. I ended up enrolling in Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics, the MIEM, Department of Computer Science and Telecommunications, to major in Automated Systems. I had many courses in programming, information science, math, I even took a course in information security.

My job is to research malware, as well as developing code to remove cryptolockers, de-obfuscation, format parsing, and malware detect automation. One needs in-depth specialist knowledge of math, cryptography, programming, therefore, I think doing this kind of work would be impossible without a technology degree in a field related to computer science. At least, that’s the case for me.

After graduation, I become interested in low-level components: systems programming, disassemblying, internal structure of executable files. That’s how I started doing reverse engineering. I decided for myself that the Kaspersky was the most promising company for a reverse engineering expert to realize their potential. I like it that in the process of exploring malware, obfuscation methods and file formats you can always find out something new, something interesting.

To master this profession, you need to study a lot. This is the biggest challenge.

I have never been a coder, a programmer, or a systems administrator. However, an IT customer support manager needs the skill of working with both support staff and users, the desire to understand their needs and to help them, rather than technology-related skills. My education is only helping me in this: I got a teaching degree in math and computer science. Technical expertise would only help, of course, but in general terms all you need is good all-around erudite knowledge of IT and to be willing to figure out technology matters as deeply as you need.

The younger generation are less bothered by gender stereotypes. For example, we have the annual SafeBoard program, which tests university undergraduates for internships at Kaspersky. All SafeBoard areas are heavily focused on technology, but at least 30% of the candidates are female.

That said, I’d like to see more ladies coming to job interviews for the IT Service Desk. The most important thing is to have the necessary knowledge and skills, and if you have successfully completed all the interview stages, you have proven that. All you have to do from that point on is just work.

In my fifth year at university, I took a course called Web design, but it was actually an HTML editing and layout course. I found it fascinating, and decided to develop my skills in that field. I could spend all night doing assignments, I’d lose track of time completely.

It would be hard to grow without perseverance, dedication, and strong focus. Besides, creativity is very important in my profession, as is the ability to take an unconventional view of ordinary things, to think broadly.

If this is something that fascinates you, something that you like, something that brings you pleasure, then why not?!

I specialize in reverse engineering. When I moved to Australia, I was looking for a job in this field but there was a slim margin of jobs at that time. However, after a few months, Kaspersky placed an ad and I applied.

Unlike the other interviews I attended, KL was the only company to examine my technical skills. I received a task that had to do with a malware. Although I hadn’t done anything like that before, I jumped at the chance. Later, the manager said my results exceeded his expectations. That is how I landed my dream job.

I currently specialise in reverse engineering and targeted attack investigations. As part of the Global Research & Analysis Team (GReAT), our Australian team focuses on fighting cybercrimes in Asia Pacific.

Women with a good CV are no longer a surprise in our field. Despite male dominance in IT, there are an increasing number of women in cybersecurity. Among them, there are lots of experienced specialists who are deeply interested in the industry, and it’s important to encourage them to be more active.

As a cybercrime specialist I understand the importance of building a relationship with journalists. While representing the company and the team, there's another skill I practice everyday and that is sending a clear and informative message about the company’s position and educating the public in simple terms about the work we do.

I am inspired by the complexity of my job and the diversity of the tasks. The creativity of malicious attackers is constantly increasing which means new complex problems arise all the time that nobody has ever solved before.

I am not a superwoman but when I manage to solve a problem that looks impossible to solve at the beginning, I realize the significance of my work. But if I had to choose a superpower, I’d choose the power of flying.

My family have always been the greatest support and motivation to me. My parents were both high school teachers and inspired me with all their hard work and led by example. I got inspired by Persian literature and drew a lot of wisdom from it through my father and also developed a scientific mind thanks to my mother, who is a biologist.

I have a professional dream but it doesn’t have to do with what I want to achieve, rather, it’s about how I plan to realize it. I want to give it my best every day and gain more knowledge.