Childhood and Education
Nacira Guerroudji-Salvan was born in 1970 and spent her childhood in Algeria. “The fourth child in a family of 9, she grew up in a very traditional Algeria that” she left on the eve of the civil war, at “the age of 23. Nacira Guerroudji-Salvan studied in France and saw herself becoming a doctor, but one of her teachers encouraged her to cultivate her talent for mathematics, which led her to study computer science. For her, cybersecurity is a way to protect populations – against the risks of cyberattacks – in the same way that a doctor treats patients. She completed an” engineering degree and obtained a Master’s and then a PhD in network and information security at the University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.
Career in Cybersecurity
Nacira Guerroudji-Salvan proves that women can brilliantly hold positions of responsibility. Before turning 30, she became head of IT at SG2 bank (a subsidiary of Société Générale). She then held various positions as Information Systems Security (ISS) manager in large companies such as Safran or Thales and as cybersecurity director at PwC. Today, she is an ISS mission chief at the Ministry of the Interior. She is also a reservist for COM CYBER (cybersecurity command) in the gendarmerie. Finally, she teaches cybersecurity at the Master’s level at Paris City University.
“The image of the ‘geek’ in a hoodie is so attached to cybersecurity that it deters vocations” – Nacira Guerroudji-Salvan
Contribution to Society
In 2023, women occupy only 1⁄4 of cybersecurity positions – which is already an improvement compared to figures from ten years ago. Aware of this imbalance, Nacira Guerroudji-Salvan fights for the opening up of digital technology to women. She recounts that one day at a college career fair, she overheard a conversation between a girl and her father: “Look dad, there’s a cybersecurity stand.” The father’s response: “No, cybersecurity is for boys,” an anecdote that reveals the sexist prejudices in the field. Nacira Guerroudji-Salvan has also encountered difficulties in her career: she has faced sexist remarks such as when people ask for A male engineer to solve problems or establish diagnoses… To change this vision of cybersecurity, Nacira Guerroudji-Salvan created in 2016 the CEFCYS (Circle of Women and Cybersecurity) which she still presides over currently. The association advocates for a greater proportion of women in this field; it offers training and mentoring and rewards women in the cybersecurity sector with the presentation of the trophy of the Cyber Woman.
Photos of the two books by CEFCYS “I don’t wear a hoodie yet I work in cybersecurity” which contains 23 testimonials and “I am a woman, and I work in cybersecurity” gathering nearly 65 testimonials.
Nacira Guerroudji-Salvan deconstructs prejudices about cybersecurity on TV and radio shows. According to her, it is urgent to strengthen the cybersecurity sector in the face of technological development and increasing cyber threats. The profession needs to be more human and less technological; women can contribute to this.
Distinctions
For her influence in the field of cybersecurity, Nacira Guerroudji-Salvan has been honored numerous times. In 2018, she was named among the 100 most influential personalities in cybersecurity in France by Usine Nouvelle. In 2019, she was part of the Top 50 influential women in cybersecurity, this time on a European scale. Nacira Guerroudji-Salvan is not only a laureate but also a judge, as in 2022 for the award of Woman of the Year in the field of cybersecurity.
So to prevent cyber threats or to support technological development, cybersecurity careers are waiting for you!
Written by Mathilde J., edited by Tiffanie C.
Sources
https://www.usinenouvelle.com/article/nacira-salvan-femme-de-reseaux-a-la-tete-d-un-reseau-de-femmes.N792099
