The Adventures of Hackergirl

One of the greatest shortcomings of the information security industry today is the egregious gender gap among information security professionals. The fact that fewer than one in ten cybersecurity professionals are female directly increases the risks faced by our society in cyberspace.

Although successful and admirable efforts have been made to incorporate women into the software development world through organizations like Women Who Code, comparatively little thought has been paid to the gender gap in information security. In a field facing a huge talent gap and increasing demand it is dangerous to neglect almost half of the potential cybersecurity geniuses in our society.

Adventures of Hackergirl was a hackathon competition entry at the MLH Prime 2016 hackathon to demonstrate a proof-of-concept game designed to make careers in cybersecurity seem appealing and welcoming to girls aged 8-12. While the game itself was fairly rudimentary due to the fast-paced nature of hackathons, it offered a welcome opportunity for our team to reflect on how early perceptions of gender norms influence participation and career decisions later in life.