To commemorate International Women’s Day 2022, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd explains how it has made significant achievements in acknowledging the role of women in cybersecurity. Check Point strives and takes initiatives every day to enhance female representation inside the firm and to promote the growth of women in the cybersecurity industry.
According to the ISC2 Women in Cybersecurity study, women held only 11 percent of cybersecurity employment in 2013, but by 2020, they will account for 24 percent of the cybersecurity workforce. Despite more women entering occupations ranging from R&D (research and development) to engineering, there is still a long way to go to address the gender gap.
Check Point Software engages in many conferences and activities that promote gender diversity in order to recruit female applicants to meet the objective of a more gender-balanced workplace. In addition, the corporation has launched mentorship initiatives such as the Woman Mentoring Program, a leadership development campaign for future female executives, and the FIERCE Mentorship programme in the United States.
Every six months, the Woman Mentoring Program is held across the EMEA region. It operates by appointing an experienced female manager or female team lead from various departments to mentor a less experienced female mentee. It is a learning and development collaboration with a two-way exchange of assistance and counselling to help female colleagues become more effective in the realm of cybersecurity.
“At Check Point Software, we have always been very committed not only to equality, but breaking the bias in the workplace when hiring, training and evaluating our employees. To this end, we run special programs dedicated to developing the careers of all our female employees, for example in the area of training and appraisal. We have implemented a high-performance mentoring program to develop the careers of women in our teams and another one focused on leadership development for future managers, a four-month project to prepare the next leaders of our company,” said Maya Horowitz, Vice President, Research at Check Point Software.
“Women of excellence have been a crucial part of Check Point’s success since its establishment and I’m pleased that we continue with this important tradition. The best cyber security is based on the best women and men providing it, and our diversity is a blessing” said Gil Shwed, Founder and CEO of Check Point Software.
Another initiative carried out in collaboration with the company FIERCE, is a program called FIERCE Mentorship in the US, which aims to empower young women to get involved in cybersecurity. This community outreach forum works with local communities and programs to provide innovative activities that inspire girls to choose and pursue careers related to cybersecurity.
Check Point strives to boost female representation on a daily basis and continues to promote initiatives and collaborations with relevant organisations in order to raise the number of women in technology-related roles and teach them to improve their cybersecurity abilities. Women now hold more than half of Check Point’s top executive positions, including Chief Product Officer (CPO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Operating Officer (COO), and Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).
