There is a general conversation happening in IT regarding women working in IT and other male dominated spaces. This talk is geared specifically about women in the IT Security space in a non-political sense. This presentation came about through many conversations and questions I have been asked through my 9 or so years working in application security and these from people of all walks of life. Things that will be covered include weaknesses that women have in male dominated fields as well as strengths and reasons why women can be very successful within the IT Security space. This talk covers rumors and myths as to why women may get the wrong impression about what working in Security is really all about. The statements made are not my own but stem from research ranging from a psychologist’s study to Gavin de Becker to Warren Buffet to quotes from female leaders within IT Security. I have included things that resonated with me. These are not only weaknesses I have experienced, but things I have learned to recognize within myself to better myself in my own career. The talk concludes with a picture of our future and how we can continue to encourage future generations of women to be excited about our field. Kristen Sullivan is an application security consultant who specializes in developing strategic recommendation plans for organizations trying to improve their application security program. With a background of more than 10 years working in state government, Kristen has extensive knowledge of regulatory compliance, enterprise policy development, and how to incorporate application security into the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC). She has conducted numerous security assessments and served as the designer of application security architecture for client projects which utilized a wide spectrum of technologies such as Java, .NET, ColdFusion, SQLServer, Oracle, DB2, IMS, mainframe, UNIX, and Windows environments. Kristen’s ability to bridge the gap between technical and non-technical people coupled with her strong interpersonal skills has helped clients understand the need for application security and how to implement strategic application security frameworks in their business sectors. As a SANS certified expert, Kristen was the first person to attain a gold level GWAPT certification and serves as a SANS and GIAC advisory board member. She has a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science from Kentucky State University and is a founding board member of the Louisville OWASP chapter.

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