About the Cybersecurity Woman of the Year category
Who this award is for
This award is for women across the whole security profession. Recent nominees include CISOs of critical infrastructure operators, heads of governance, risk and compliance, security researchers, AI and application security engineers, national cyber agency leaders, legal and security executives, and the founders of networks that help other women enter and advance in the field.
The award recognizes the nominee's own achievements and, where it applies, the difference she makes for others through mentoring, community building or opening routes into security. Many nominees also enter the category that matches their role, such as Cybersecurity Professional of the Year, Chief Information Security Officer of the Year (CISO) or Junior Cybersecurity Professional of the Year, so the same achievements are considered in both places.
Related categories to enter
Each category is judged separately, so you can enter a nominee in every category that fits their work, with a separate nomination for each. Tailor each nomination to that category's focus. Entering several related categories gives the work more than one chance to be recognized.
How entries are judged
An independent jury of security practitioners, analysts and CISOs scores each nomination on leadership, innovation and impact. Each nomination competes in its category against peers in a similar setting and region. Your entry package, any sponsorship and public votes do not affect the jury's scores.
Strong entries in this category show:
- Leadership — the role the nominee holds and how she leads, whether that is a team, a program, a company or a community.
- Innovation — a fresh approach in her area of work, such as a new research method, a security program built differently, or a new route into the profession for others.
- Impact — what her work achieved for the organization or the field and, where relevant, what it did for others, such as people mentored, networks founded or members reached. Named initiatives and their results carry more weight than general descriptions.
The jury awards Gold, Silver or Bronze, or a Finalist badge, and results are published on this site and announced to the 600,000+ member Cybersecurity Insiders community. Every approved nomination also enters the separate Community Choice award, decided by public votes.
How to enter
Anyone can submit a nomination: the nominee, a colleague or manager, the organization, or an agency entering a client. The nomination form has a confidential field for detail that is shared with the judges and not published, such as internal figures, customer names or incident details. Deadlines, pricing and entry steps are on the How it Works page.
