Surrounded by the bright aura of the National Security Agency’s (NSA) cutting-edge Cybersecurity Collaboration Center (CCC), women from across the Nation recently joined leaders from USCYBERCOM and NSA to learn about the Agency’s mission and shine a light on the future of cybersecurity.
The first-ever “Women Immersed in NSA Cybersecurity” event was designed to detail and demonstrate NSA’s mission to students emerging as the next generation of cyber excellence — an effort deemed critical by the Director to diversify recruitment while strengthening the future of national defense.
“NSA’s people have been a competitive advantage for the Agency and the Nation for over 65 years,” said GEN Paul M. Nakasone, Commander, USCYBERCOM, Director, NSA/Chief, CSS. “The national security demands on signals intelligence and cybersecurity are growing increasingly complex, especially when we consider China and Russia. Our technical and professional skills must evolve to meet those demands.”
Throughout the week, more than 70 leaders from across the Agency joined the students to share their stories of why they chose NSA — more than 90% of whom are women in cybersecurity.
Students heard a talk on disrupting nation state hackers, a panel on vulnerabilities and cybersecurity advisories, a briefing on the psyche of a hacker and many more — providing the women a glimpse into NSA’s diverse mission set.
CCC Chief Morgan Adamski welcomed the students on the first day of the visit to NSA/CSS Washington (NSAW) — outlining the goals and mission of the CCC and providing a brief overview of her career.
“I wanted to work in national security ever since I was in college,” she said, noting that the attack on September 11, 2001, had a significant effect on her during her senior year in high school. “I got into this to do everything I could make sure that never happens again.”
Cybersecurity Director Rob Joyce explained that his now 33-year career also began right out of college, and he’s seen noticeable trends in the pace of cyberspace during his time with the government.
“The speed of cyber has really picked up in recent years, and we don’t expect it to be slowing anytime soon,” he said. “Working alongside government and private industry partners is critical to progressing and succeeding in this space.”
