As we celebrate International Women's Day, we are thrilled to shine a spotlight on the incredible women who contribute their talent, passion, and expertise to our organisation.

Join us in a series of interviews as we hear firsthand from these women. Discover their unique journeys into how they got interested in the cyber security field, what they are working with now and the advice they would give to other women pursuing a career in cyber security.

To motivate and enable more women to explore the field of cyber security, we are again this year supporting and collaborating with Women4Cyber Finland. Their mission is to support women in Finland to find employment in the field of cyber security, thus increasing diversity and equalising the existing gender imbalance is highly valuable.

Let's celebrate the diverse voices and achievements of the women who make our organisation thrive. Happy International Women's Day! 💙

Rosa Ritalahti, SOC Analyst

Rosa found her interest in cyber security through her studies in Information Technology. During her studies, she was able to choose some cyber security courses. This was when her interest in the field truly began. Rosa had heard about Nixu from her tutor at the university and decided to apply when she saw that the company was looking for a trainee. At that point, she did not know much about working in cyber security but was curious and brave enough to explore the possibilities in the field. She described that it was a leap into the unknown.

Today, Rosa works as an Analyst in Nixu’s Incident Response team, where she monitors and protects customers' environments around the clock. Further, she supports customers with various cyber security problems and questions.

In her free time, she enjoys working out both inside and outside, for example, training at the gym, climbing, or hiking. On top of sports, she spends a lot of time visiting art exhibitions and knitting.

We asked what kind of advice Rosa would give other women who would like to pursue a career in cyber security. Her answer was simply to dare to be yourself and brave. The cyber security field is still strongly male-dominated, which can bring some challenges for women but nothing that would be insurmountable, according to Rosa.

Rosa does not have a specific female role model but generally admires strong females who are brave and honest.

Carolin Kivioja, Privacy Lawyer

Carolin has a law degree, but her interest in cyber security rose while she was working in Brussels at the European Data Protection Board. Before that, Carolin had mostly been interested in data protection, but while working in Brussels, she found her passion for data and cyber security legislation. She decided to deepen her knowledge in these matters.

A few years later, Carolin now works at Nixu as a Privacy Lawyer, consulting customers in different legal matters. She supports customers in organising their business in a way that fulfils their compliance requirement based on data protection and data security laws. A typical case where a customer needs Carolin’s advice is when they want to use a new tool or existing personal data for a new purpose. The most common regulation Carolin uses in her daily work is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). On top of that, she also works closely with, for example, the Network and Information Security (NIS) Directive.

When Carolin is not working, she enjoys either playing padel at Nixu’s padel club or visiting the gym. On her vacations, she likes to travel around Europe on a motorcycle.

As advice to other women interested in entering the field of cyber security, Carolin wants to tell that cyber security is about much more than only hacking and that plenty of different talents are needed. She also emphasises that you do not need to know everything before you start working in cyber security.

As her female role model, Carolin mentions Isabelle Vereecken, the Head of the Secretariat of the European Data Protection Board. Carolin describes Isabelle as skilled and brave, but at the same time as genuine and kind. 

Vidya Nagaraju Raj, Test Engineer

Vidya holds an engineering degree and began working as a Software Tester after graduation. She has worked in the field for over six years at major corporations like IBM, Capgemini, and Merzedes-Benz. Vidya feels that she has been very lucky since she has had the opportunity to learn plenty of fascinating technologies throughout her profession.

Vidya joined Nixu in August 2022 as a Test Engineer. One of her main tasks is to evaluate business requirements and testing specifications. She describes her daily work by saying that she develops detailed test plans, test cases, test scripts, and test scenarios. Further, Vidya says that they use a Robot Framework to execute all of the automation scripts and test cases they’ve developed together with her team. Identifying each defect's severity and priority is also an important part of Vidya’s daily work tasks.

At her free time, Vidya enjoys a variety of sport activities like walking, playing badminton, and swimming. When not working out, she also enjoys watching movies. On top of this, Vidya sometimes also studies on her own to gain even better technical skills.

For women interested in a cyber security career, Vidya recommends starting with studying computer science and networking. She encourages others to stay curious and keep learning about the latest trends in the field. Vidya would also advice women to develop their problem-solving skills and be open to new challenges. Lastly, she highlights that diversity in cyber security is important for innovative solutions and solving challenges effectively.

Vidya feels motivated and inspired when she sees so many female entrepreneurs from all over the world succeed in what they do. She personally finds inspiration and positivity in following them.