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How cybersecurity businesses are welcoming neurodiverse talent

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    • Neurodiversity's importance in organizations is gaining steam, with many large, tech-rich enterprises like Ford, IBM and Microsoft reforming their HR processes to ensure they recruit and retain neurodiverse talent. Neurodivergent people have conditions that mean they think differently than others, for example, autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia. I asked Nicola Whiting MBE, co-owner of Titania Group and NeuroCyber board member,  why neurodiversity matters in cybersecurity and how businesses can be more inclusive and supportive of neurodivergent employees. Gemma: Why is neurodiversity important? Nicola: Neurodiversity – where you have many different thinking styles and perspectives – increases the range of ideas in a business, which means competitive advantage in innovation and resilience. It's the opposite of groupthink – when everyone has similar ideas, so businesses stagnate and make poor decisions. More personally, being autistic, I'm saddened by how many brilliant neurodivergent people struggle to get jobs in our industry, despite the known skills gap. JPMorgan Chase reported in 2021 that neurodivergent employees in certain tech roles may be up to 140 percent more productive than neurotypical colleagues. However, businesses still struggle to build inclusive practices that let all neurotypes thrive. I want to help change that. You're on NeuroCyber's advisory board. What are its aims? NeuroCyber's founder and CEO, Mike Spain, has a neurodivergent son. He saw too few opportunities for neurodivergent people in cybersecurity and wanted to change that. NeuroCyber believes in inclusion at every level – over half the board are neurodivergent. We're driven to improve career outcomes for neurodivergent colleagues, enriching the sector and reducing the UK's cyber skills gap. Why does the cybersecurity industry especially benefit from neurodiversity? In cybersecurity, everything we do is either innovation – creating new things – or resilience against attack and business threat. Neurodiversity is essential for both. For example, if you follow the principle 'to defeat an attacker, you must be able to think like an attacker,' you need a variety of neurotypes because attackers are similarly varied. What about in leadership? Should boards and C-suites consider neurodiversity? Absolutely. Boards should be especially wary of groupthink. Many innovative, well-known entrepreneurs are neurodivergent, like Richard Branson, who is dyslexic, and Elon Musk, who is autistic. There are also many neurodivergent industry leaders who don't disclose the fact because they fear stigma. Which cyber organizations are 'doing it right' with neurodiversity? One organization I admire is Genius Within, founded by Dr. Nancy Doyle. They believe in creating inclusive workplaces, allowing neurodivergent people to thrive and maximize their talents and strengths. What's your advice for companies that want to become more diverse and inclusive of neurodiversity? Follow the principle of 'nothing about us without us' (NAUWU.) Teams that can drive their processes and practices are more engaged and have better outcomes. You should also acknowledge that people have unconscious bias that draws them to prefer working with people that look and think like themselves. You can see it in the questions we prioritize in recruitment like, "Will this person fit with the team?" rather than, "What new skills and talents will they bring, and how will we support them?" There's plenty of fantastic advice on reducing bias in hiring and retaining team members, much of which is free. Companies needn't look far to learn how to improve their processes, practices and culture for greater diversity and inclusion. What will organizations gain if they take action on neurodiversity? Taking action on neurodiversity can mean benefits in terms of growth, innovation and resilience to risk. You'll also gain the personal benefits of inclusive, welcoming work environments. It always pays to diversify. Opinions reflect those of the expert. Interview has been edited for clarity.
Designing professional development for Millennials and Gen Zers

For Millennials and Gen Z, today’s professional development needs work

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    • The generations we call Millennials (born 1981 to 1996) and Gen Z (born 1997 to 2012) now make up most of the global workforce. But despite their numbers, today's workplace may not meet their needs, because they're quitting jobs and hopping between positions in growing numbers. Those businesses that examine how they're retaining, developing and supporting these employees will have a chance to get ahead of their competition. There are signs information overload and mental fatigue are making us all gravitate to short-form content, but Millennials and Gen Z express this preference more strongly – they seem to learn, think and communicate differently from their predecessors. If companies want to boost their performance, organizational resilience and enterprise capabilities, they should redesign their professional development programs to engage these audiences better. Where professional learning is going wrong As a futurist keynote speaker and workshop presenter, I train thousands of professionals on how to adapt to industry change and emerging technologies. I need to bring audiences up to speed and inspire enthusiasm within minutes. But I find IT learning and professional development methods are still tied up in rigorous training programs and demanding certifications that take weeks or months to unpack. In the age of Zoom fatigue, things are going in the wrong direction. I've seen a steady increase in the average length of training I'm asked to give, from under an hour to 90−180 minutes. "Today's IT and security pros need to get up to speed on a rising array of breaking trends, technologies and topics in less time than ever," David Thomas, executive director of online programming at University of Denver, told me. "At the same time, they're pulled in more directions and their concentration is becoming more divided." Microlearning as an addition to traditional learning Experts suggest offering a broader range of learning approaches and educational solutions can help fill the gaps around extensive teaching and training programs. Microlearning especially is gaining ground. This rapid-fire approach to learning means breaking content into shorter, more approachable chunks. It helps promote interest in new topics and gets learners up to speed faster. In a 2018 paper, researchers Ján Skalka and Martin Drlík reported that microlearning, in tandem with more comprehensive training methods like coursework and certification programs, helps offset the impact of decreasing attention. It gives a speedy onramp for tech-related topics, reducing the learning curve, driving interest and boosting learning. Tatyana Shumaylova, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Kaspersky says get-to-the-point, bite-sized learning is central to their cyber education program Automated Security Awareness Platform (ASAP). "We understand that maximum engagement is key to learning, so we put that at the heart of our educational approach. For Millennials and Gen Z in particular, the 'old ways' are ineffective, so we trimmed the fat, banished waffle and keep our modules sharp, interactive and impactful." Greater loyalty to businesses that value learning Researchers at Florida International University found leaders and employees admit there's an issue with maintaining attention spans. They also found young audiences can maintain intense focus but are easily distracted. The research found these younger professionals are "most engaged when working on projects that are rewarding and impactful" and when they're doing "meaningful work and being challenged." These generations also actively look for jobs with more development opportunities and are more loyal if they receive continuing education. Companies must adapt development and training programs to short attention spans to engage and retain them. A Millennial herself, Taylor Tresatti, head of industry research for BIZDEV: The International Association for Business Development and Strategic Partnerships, told me she'd found learning and experiential opportunities promised but not delivered many times in her career. So she changed job roles and positions to get them: "As an employee, you have to gain working knowledge of new tools, technologies and trends quickly, without active training or certification from your employer. It would be super helpful to have access to faster and easier ways to master new skills." Investing in tech-rich learning experiences In their 2020 paper Educational experiences with Generation Z, three researchers said younger generations motivate companies to "accelerate and improve the teaching and learning process." This means investing in more technology-powered resources for new ways of teaching and learning, and finding more effective ways to capture and hold audiences' attention. Chris Zimmerman, senior analyst with trend forecasters FutureProof Strategies, told me, "There's a time and place for traditional learning methods and deeper dives. But your first goal in an increasingly frenetic business world should be to pique audience interest. That means looking for ways to present learning material that breaks through daily clutter better. It also means finding better ways to package and present material that bestows working knowledge faster." How to make learning more engaging I recently developed a new training method called POP FUTURE – you can download the instruction manual and guide for free. It's a faster, friendlier way to present learning content, putting future trends, new technologies and emerging business topics in a more intuitive and welcoming context that audiences of more backgrounds and skill levels can understand. My methods include reducing training manuals, workplace guides and reports to quick-hit videos, animated explainers or brief charts, illustrations and infographics. Effective teaching can also include games, exercises and simulations based on real-world challenges, like role-playing strategies for addressing network hacks or data breaches. I also recommend using animated GIFs, eye-catching explainers and graphs, and other social media-friendly content to make simple, understandable visual representations of complex subjects. Developing tomorrow's leaders Millennials and Gen Zers are quick learners, hungry for insight. In a world of shrinking employment tenures, they weigh learning and development opportunities highly when considering jobs. When unforeseen challenges emerge, these audiences won't have the time for traditional learning programs or in-depth curriculums. Supplementing your learning and development regimen with more short-form and microlearning-based content will give your workforce access to more approachable, on-demand learning and speak to more knowledge-hungry employees.
financial times report diversity

Two great ways to build a more diverse cybersecurity team

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    • "A diverse team gives you different life experiences and strengths," says Shawnee Delaney, CEO of US-based insider threat specialist Vaillance Group. Diversity in your cybersecurity team is also a competitive advantage, according to new research. In partnership with Longitude, a Financial Times company, Kaspersky surveyed 750 leaders at enterprises around the world about their approach to cybersecurity. The research finds organizations that actively improve diversity and inclusion in their cybersecurity teams – named the Diversity Leaders for this reason – are better prepared to deal with a range of cyberattacks. For example, they are twice as likely (77 percent) to be prepared for 'black swan events' – sudden events with widespread impact, like a pandemic – than others in the sample (37 percent.) Organizations recognize the benefits of a diverse team. Six in 10 say creating a more diverse and inclusive cybersecurity team will be important in the next two years. They have work to do. Figures show 85 percent of cyber security professionals in the UK are white and 66 percent are male. And only 10 percent of women in IT work in a majority female team, another recent Kaspersky survey found. Two ways to rebalance your cybersecurity team 1. Recruit from different sectors "One of my engineers has no IT security background — he started as a musician," says Ricardo Lafosse, Chief Information Security Officer at multi-national food company Kraft Heinz. "He sees problems differently from me and that provides a whole new dynamic for how to solve an issue." Broadening the talent pool by hiring from unexpected places gives businesses a bigger picture when threatened. Diverse viewpoints make it possible to consider all the ways an invader could attack. "A diverse team gives you different life experiences and strengths," says Vaillance Group's Delaney. "A well-rounded team approaches challenges more creatively." 2. Build an inclusive culture Recruitment strategies are just the beginning. Companies must create an inclusive workplace culture so recruits feel welcome, nurtured and excited to build a career. The National Cyber Security Centre recently found that one in five UK cybersecurity professionals felt they couldn't be themselves at work. Meanwhile, research by Accenture and non-profit Girls Who Code revealed company culture is the top reason women leave a tech career. And a recent international Kaspersky survey found 44 percent of women in tech think men progress faster. "Teams are living organisms, and like all living organisms, they can be healthy and flourish — or not," says Evgeniya Naumova, Executive Vice President of Corporate Business at Kaspersky. Regional variation in valuing diversity in cybersecurity Cyber threats are global, but the research shows regions prioritize diversity and inclusion differently. For example, 84 percent of Australian leaders in the research said they were actively improving diversity and inclusion in their cybersecurity teams. In contrast, only 56 percent of those in Canada agreed with the statement. In Hong Kong and Italy, 72 percent agreed that creating a more diverse and inclusive cybersecurity team would be important in the next two years, but only 52 percent in the UK. This means multi-national organizations must ensure recruitment strategy and culture improvements happen across operations worldwide. Cyber threats are growing in number and severity, and businesses must do everything they can to protect themselves. Diversity might not always be a top-of-mind strategy, but the data shows it should be. As well as the powerful benefits of diversity and inclusion, a global strategy needs more senior leadership (C-suite) involvement. The research found companies with closely linked cybersecurity teams and C-suite are better prepared to manage attacks. If there is strong integration with senior leadership, cybersecurity is likely higher on the business agenda, and the team likely feels more valued, leading to better staff retention. "As cybersecurity leaders, we must push for diversity and ingrain these viewpoints into the fabric of our program," says Kraft Heinz's Lafosse. "The threat actors out there don't care about race or gender. If they find a good hacker, they're going to be part of their team. We need to be able to think that way."

Why recruiting more neurodiverse talent could benefit your business

  • min read
    • The candidate's application was impeccable. They had great academic scores and a flawless practical test. But in their interview and presentation, they avoid eye contact and can't give a succinct answer. How would you assess them? Many hiring managers would dismiss this candidate without a second thought, labelling them "not a good fit" or "fails to perform under pressure." But evidence suggests they may be throwing the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. Untapped potential in neurodiverse workforce Neurodiversity refers to variations in how people think and experience the world. Neurodivergent people might have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD,) autism, dyslexia and more. Increasingly, these conditions are seen as natural and valuable variation between people rather than disorders. Meg O'Connell, CEO and Founder of Global Disability Inclusion, says, "Companies often overlook people with disabilities, and this includes people who are neurodivergent. Recruiters and hiring managers are not equipped to effectively interview and assess people who are neurodiverse." O'Connell says not being able to fairly assess a neurodivergent person's abilities deprives companies of talent at a time of higher than average numbers of people resigning. Organizations need a strategy to include neurodiverse candidates. For tech companies, neurodiverse talent can mean especially useful strengths, like hyperfocus, pattern recognition and attention to detail. Cybersecurity and content marketing consultant Lisa Ventura, who is autistic herself, points to what neurodiversity can offer in cybersecurity. "[Some] neurodiverse people are good at finding the proverbial needle in a haystack, the small red flags and minute details critical for hunting down and analyzing potential threats. Other strengths include pattern recognition, thinking outside the box and methodical thinking." Differences are strengths "Instead of focusing only on what makes a neurodivergent person different, we should embrace the benefits different viewpoints and minds bring to the table," says Ventura. This untapped potential comes in many forms. People on the autism spectrum have faster pattern recognition, attention to detail and a stronger memory. In the workplace, employers report a range of good qualities including honesty, precision and consistency. People with dyslexia have sharper peripheral vision and notice more visual anomalies. Thom Hartmann, the founder of the Hunter School, describes people with ADHD as "hunters in a farmer's world." Kimi Wright, Operations Executive at UK digital and tech recruiters Adam, says the condition means she can multitask efficiently. "I find it easy to juggle many pieces of work. I have been often told my hyperfocus is beneficial, especially when I am doing project work or large copywriting tasks. I research new projects passionately and retain a lot of information. When I see a problem, I jump right into it and work my way out. It's meant new processes and smoother ways of working within our team." Human brains exist on a continuum In his book The Power of Neurodiversity: Unleashing the Advantages of your Differently Wired Brain, Thomas Armstrong, Executive Director of American Institute for Learning and Human Development says human brains exist along continuums. People process information, present and communicate differently. Armstrong explains the 'spectrum' of autism using sociability: Some people with autism are very sociable, some are introverted but relate well to others and some prefer to be alone. Uptimize is a training platform that helps organizations engage with talent that thinks differently. It uses universal design principles to find out what colleagues, managers and HR can do that will likely benefit everybody. Ed Thompson, CEO and founder, says management should ask employees their working style preferences and find ways to accommodate. For example taking sensory sensitivities like noise or bright light into account when designing office layout, recreational spaces or company retreats. When it comes to the remote, hybrid or back-to-office debate, Thompson says there's no 'one size fits all.' "Some enjoy the control of their own environment. Others miss the stimulation of the office. The key is to be sensitive to each employee's needs and preferences, without making assumptions." Ventura agrees. "Giving those who are neurodivergent the choice over where and how they work is key. I started to work solely from home in 2015 because I got to the point where I could no longer cope with working in an office. I couldn't stand the noise, interruption and chatter. But I was brought up to ignore all that and go out to work because it's what we must do, and I masked how I really felt." Tailored to the individual To level the playing field for neurodiverse people, we must revamp job designs and hiring practices. David Emm, Principal Security Research at Kaspersky, recommends, "thinking outside the box and re-defining the methods we use to draw talented people into our organizations." We must move away from the 'survival of the fittest' mindset and focus on making environments in which everyone can flourish. And it's not just about the physical environment – Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria can often come hand-in-hand with ADHD. Wright says it helps that her manager checks in regularly, breaking news sensitively and working together on hard days. In his book, Thomas Armstrong also talks about the positive feedback loop when neurodiverse people can construct suitable niches for themselves, such as microhabitats or subcultures. Anthony Moffa, working as a Software Engineer as part of JP Morgan Chase's Autism at Work program, says, "not having to pretend I was neurotypical boosted my identity, confidence and self-esteem." Improving HR practices HR practices and work cultures must undergo a major revamp to be fair to everyone. Ventura advises job descriptions and advertisements avoid lists of skills and attributes describing the 'ideal' candidate instead focusing on what the role involves and experience needed, making clear what's desirable versus must-have. Requirements like 'must have strong teamwork skills' or 'must be a good communicator' can discourage neurodiverse jobhunters. Employers and hiring manager training helps. O'Connell of Global Disability Inclusion says, "We help managers understand how neurodiverse talent might interact or respond, giving space for candidates to respond and the opportunity for management to truly assess the skills and abilities of these candidates." Take behavioral-style interview question, where interviewers ask candidates for a specific example of using a skill, with questions like "tell me about a time you handled a difficult situation." Processing large numbers of past experiences and choosing just one can be hard for someone with autism. Instead, experts recommend making questions specific and phrasing them in future tense, for example, "If one of your team didn't want to participate in a project, how would you encourage them to take part?" Share information in advance, such as interview questions and assessment details. Be open to individual needs and suggest accommodations you can make. For online interviews, Wright suggests displaying the question in chat for the interviewee to refer to. Managing neurodiverse employees Many autistic employees feel empowered by routine as they feel comfortable in predictable patterns. Structure and schedule things as much as possible, use templates and break large tasks into smaller ones. Interpersonal interactions shouldn't make or break careers. Neurodiverse talent needs ways to show their skills and abilities that don't involve presentations or group work. Reflecting on how we can make work more inclusive for neurodiverse people shows we can tap into a more diverse talent pool by giving employees choice to work in ways that suit them. Neurodiverse people bring unique advantages and skills. Workplaces have an opportunity today to reinvent themselves and welcome those who think differently.
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Secure Futures magazine is your go-to business guide for opinions, trends and insight into the world of technology and cybersecurity. We help your business to bring on the future. Brought to you by Kaspersky, the global cybersecurity experts.

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