While we have many more women winners in our Top Global CISO Awards for 2023, we wanted to spotlight other amazing women in their roles in cybersecurity as well. We congratulate them all for breaking the glass ceiling and being role models.
“It’s an honor to be recognized for this award. Cybersecurity risk and assisting organizations in protecting and preparing themselves against such threats is tremendously important to me, and it is rewarding to be recognized for these efforts. I’m also pleased to accept this award alongside other trailblazers and outstanding women in the cybersecurity industry who are bringing forth necessary perspectives and solutions to support customers and their respective organizations.” – Carolyn Crandall, CMO
About Carolyn Crandall
Carolyn has held leadership positions at Cisco, Juniper Networks, Nimble Storage, Riverbed, and Seagate. She is
recognized as a global thought leader on technology trends in publications such as San Jose’s Mercury News, and for building strategies that connect technology with customers to solve difficult information technology challenges. Her current focus is on cybersecurity risk validation and exposure management.
An active speaker on security innovation at CISO forums and industry events, Carolyn has been a guest on Fox News and has presented at the CSO50 Conference, ISSA International, NH-ISAC, and most recently Gartner, and is a current advisor for Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business.
She has also hosted multiple technology education webinars and is an active blogger and byline contributor.
About Tami Hudson
As EVP & Cybersecurity Client Officer at Wells Fargo, Tami strategically blends technology and business to deliver a consistent customer centric experience.
Within her role, as Wells Fargo’s inaugural Cybersecurity Client Office, Tami is Head of Technology Third Party focused on identifying, monitoring and tracking the security risks related to partners and suppliers; Head of the Business Information Security Officers (BISOs) that function as internal Chief Information Security Officers (CISO) across the bank’s lines of business; As well as Head of Advisory Services that encompasses consulting offerings delivering “voice of the customer,” public sector-private sector cyber engagement, and Cybersecurity Awareness to drive cyber resiliency across Wells Fargo’s customer and client agenda.
A seasoned executive, Tami has over two decades of technology and security experience effectively managing risk while driving enterprise objectives. Shei is a former CISO and Big 4 consulting executive who has hands-on experience leading companies in business focused cyber transformations, global ransomware breaches, and cyber crisis management.
With a career focused on building widespread cyber resiliency for Fortune 500 companies across multiple industries, and a strong blend of technical, business, and communication skills, Tami is at the forefront of accelerating cybersecurity across our global footprint while closing the gap between cybersecurity and business through wide-spread risk mitigation.
Named “Top Woman in Cybersecurity” by Cyber Defense Magazine, a “Top Woman in Finance” by Career Communications Group, one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Technology” and “Women Worth Watching” by National Diversity, Tami is an award winning and globally recognized cyber executive, and highly sought after speaker. Some notable past speaking engagements include the Wall Street Journal Cybersecurity Conference, SIBOS, RSA, and NASDAQ Cybersecurity Summit. Additionally, she has been a featured cyber subject matter expert on ABC News.
A consummate learner, Tami is an avid community builder with deep involvement across several charities focused on serving under-privileged youth and women in technology related fields. A scholarship recipient, Tami obtained a bachelors from Georgia Tech and an MBA from Duke University.
About Aradhna Chetal
Aradhna is the Managing Director Exec – Cloud Security and DevSecOps at TIAA, a financial services company. She is responsible for the cloud security vision, strategy, and engineering execution for a multi-cloud hybrid enterprise to deliver security at the speed of cloud. She has worked in various cybersecurity leadership roles at JP Morgan Chase, Boeing Company, Microsoft, and T-Mobile.
Aradhna is an active member in the cybersecurity industry. She is Co-Chair of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation Security TAG, Co-Chair for the CSA Serverless Working group and a Cloud Security Alliance Research Fellow. She contributes to CNCF, Cloud Security Alliance and NIST Cloud computing standards, has influenced best practices and standards for cloud, containers, and micro services security. She is also an advisory board member for several cloud, cloud-native and data protection startups.
Aradhna is adept at revamping cybersecurity programs and modernizing them, with special focus on the regulated environments. She is a sought-after expert for building next- generation cybersecurity programs in alignment with digital transformations to deliver software securely at the speed of cloud. She has experience in managing cyber and regulatory risk in various industry verticals such as manufacturing, biotech, financial services, and Telecom.
Aradhna has an MS in Cybersecurity, a BS in electrical engineering, and a CISSP and CCSP from ISC2.org.
Her technology focus includes emerging technologies, multi-cloud, and cloud-native security; data; AI/ML; DevSecOps; digital identity; security and privacy; enterprise infrastructure; and software security.
Operating areas include digital transformation; security strategy; engineering organization design and development; product roadmaps; innovation and emerging technology; Managing global teams; highly regulated verticals; defense, biotech, telecom, financial services, manufacturing.
Young Women in Cybersecurity Winners
About Annabelle Klosterman
Annabelle Klosterman is a Cybersecurity Reporter for Cyber Defense Magazine (CDM) and CDM’s first Women in
Cybersecurity scholarship awardee. She is a Cybersecurity Engineer for Southwest Airlines, Co-Founder/Program Director of the Cyber Community Club, and a Master’s Cyber Defense student at Dakota State University. Her areas of focus are offensive and defensive security, governance, risk and management, security consulting, program management, and cybersecurity training/outreach.
Throughout the years, Annabelle has competed in numerous competitions and placed nationally at the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition in 2022 and 2023 and was a national finalist in CyberPatriot in 2019 and 2020. Additionally, she earned 1st place in the 2022 Idaho National Laboratory CyberCore CTF, and Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS) CTF in 2021 and 2022. She holds SANS certifications in Cybersecurity Technologies (GFACT), Cloud Security (GCLD), and Incident Handling (GCIH).
Annabelle has spoken on cybersecurity and career topics at various events and organizations including US Cyber Games, RSA Conference, Secure360, Texas Cyber Summit, BSidesSATX, South Dakota InfraGard, Civil Air Patrol, and more. Annabelle’s goal is to be in a position that changes the way people view and handle security, for their protection and safety, and the benefit of everyone. Annabelle can be reached online at https://www.linkedin.com/in/annabelleklosterman and at her website
https://www.annabelleklosterman.com/.
About Tiffany Dinh
Tiffany Dinh is a proud alumnus of The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) where she received her Bachelor of Computer Engineering with distinction, graduating with Summa Cum Laude and minors in Global Studies and
Computer Science. On top of this, she boasts an impressive array of certifications, holding both CompTIA Security+ and CompTIA Network+. In her forward-looking trajectory, she is gearing up to acquire the esteemed CISSP certification and her Masters of Science in Computer Science.
Currently, Tiffany works as a Senior Cloud & Cybersecurity Engineer at SAIC. Here, she helms critical projects, from developing cloud infrastructure for the US ARMY DEVCOM to creating AI solutions for NASA Langley Research Center. She also works as a researcher at UAH’s Center for Cybersecurity Research and Education (CCRE). At CCRE, she has led initiatives and handled classified projects for government contractors and agencies.
She is also passionately involved in her community and academic endeavors. Notably, she founded UAH’s Women in Cybersecurity chapter and has made significant contributions in her leadership positions at UAH’s Honors College and Student Government Association. Outside of her cybersecurity pursuits, she has been recognized by several prestigious bodies, from being a CrowdStrike Next Gen Scholar to earning the title of a National Security Agency (NSA) Stokes Scholar. Her journey, marked by consistent achievements and leadership, stands testament to her drive in the cybersecurity field.
Beyond her academic and professional life, Tiffany is a firm believer in lifelong learning. She’s determined to continue broadening her horizons with aspirations to give back to the cybersecurity community and inspire future generations.
Honored with the opportunity with Cyber Defense Magazine, Tiffany is excited to delve into her role as a cybersecurity reporter and blogger. This new venture aligns seamlessly with her objective to share knowledge, highlight advancements, and drive conversations in the dynamic world of cybersecurity.
I’m deeply honored to receive the Cyber Defense Media Group Women in Cybersecurity scholarship. As I navigate my Master’s in Computer Science at The University of Alabama in Huntsville, this award reinforces my aspiration to further delve into advanced education, potentially pursuing a PhD. My ultimate aim is to instigate meaningful advancements in cybersecurity, and this scholarship is a pivotal step towards that vision.
About Kylie Amison
I am a recent graduate of George Mason University where I obtained my Bachelors of Science degree in Cybersecurity Engineering with a minor in intelligence analysis. I currently only hold one certification, the Comptia Security +, but plan to get both the eMAPT and CEH. I am working full time at a leading mobile security company, NowSecure, as an Application Security Analyst where I do all types of fun things like exploit vulnerable apps, secure mobile application development, and contribute to exciting projects and important initiatives that are consistently highlighted throughout the security industry.
In addition, I also work part time with startup company, Auspex Labs, as a Cybersecurity Software Developer, where I am the main developer on Diplomacy™, a geopolitical threat intelligence engine that combines a broad assortment of metrics and NLP sentiment analysis to calculate nuanced and real-time threat scores per nation state. Working at Auspex has been pivotal in my knowledge in creating secure software and has given me the opportunity to not only develop my first product, but to also start my own startup company, productizing the software and capabilities created in Diplomacy™. Which brings me to my final achievement, I am now co-founder and CTO of Xenophon Analytics, a company that grew from shared interests in international political affairs and my project of building the geopolitical risk engine.
Throughout all of these experiences and my coursework at GMU, I have gained essential skills in secure software development, risk management, data analysis, Python, penetration testing, and mobile security. When I’m not researching or coding, you can find me watching anime, reading Sci Fi, or playing with my dogs! I have aspirations of going back to school to get a graduate degree in either Digital Forensics, or Cyber Law (maybe both?). My ultimate goal in life is to learn every single day, and I’m proud to be doing just that.
With her award, she has received an opportunity for a part-time internship with CDM as a cybersecurity reporter and blogger.
Reach out to her with story ideas: [email protected]
In the venture capital industry, a unicorn refers to any tech startup company that reaches a $1 billion-dollar market value as determined by private or public investment. In this year’s report we are covering the top infosec innovators, highlighting black unicorns, spotlighting some of the top women in cybersecurity and the top global CISOs. In the venture capital industry, a unicorn refers to any tech startup company that reaches a $1 billion-dollar market value as determined by private or public investment. In the cybersecurity industry, Gary S. Miliefsky coined the term black unicorn as a cybersecurity company that has the potential to reach a $1 billion-dollar market value as determined by private or public investment within 3-5 years. The black unicorn awards are designed to help showcase companies with this kind of potential. Learn about the latest threats and the most innovative defenders in this exclusive report.