Nicola Jakeman

NOMINATION HIGHLIGHTS

In 2016, I embarked on my career in cybersecurity at SecureData (now Orange Cyberdefense) to set up a new intelligence services department, which is now known as the UK CyberSOC.

Four years later I head up this department and have responsibility for consultants, analysts, pre-sales support, platform management, research and a thriving vulnerability management team.

Having built this team from the ground up, it has been my most complex yet rewarding role to date. Threat detection is an ever-evolving space and when I entered this world there were no frameworks in place, there was no blueprint for how the technology should be setup and which types of roles should exist in these teams. With my team and the help of different experts within Orange Cyberdefense, we worked to curate a world where we watched over our clients, ensuring that they are protected from the relentless cyber underworld.

Many of our clients come to us because they have tried to setup the departments themselves and had been overwhelmed, or they’ve had a bad experience with another provider. We often enter into these relationships with clients who already have trust issues and we have to work to create a strong, trustworthy and highly effective service. I am proud to say that we achieve this through integrity, honesty and a successful service.

Being a woman, in what is typically a very male dominated environment, has been a challenge in many different ways, from gaining the trust of my predominantly male team to feeling as though I have to prove myself to my peers. Awards like this are important to recognising that women are just as capable as men in this field and should be celebrated for currently being the anomaly to the rule and blazing the trail for all future women in cyber.