Sponsored: Leading by example
According to Sara Banda, information security officer for SafetySA, women in ICT or considering STEM careers need to believe in themselves.
01 November 2024
According to Sara Banda, information security officer for SafetySA, women in ICT or considering STEM careers need to believe in themselves.
“Determination and a positive mindset will set you up for future success. Most importantly, the ICT industry is evolving. It’s essential to never stop learning,” says Banda.
Banda brings over 17 years of extensive experience in the ICT industry to her role at SafetySA, having worked across various professional and business services organisations, tackling service delivery, technical support, back-end operations, IT management, cybersecurity, information security, and data privacy.
Among her achievements, Banda has been recognised for her contribution to the technology industry by ITWeb Brainstorm as one of the 100 Influential Women in Tech 2024 finalists – out of over 450 nominees. She has also been involved in multiple successful projects, including leading a team that implemented a successful information security management system (ISMS), and achieved an ISO 27001 certificate for the firm concerned within nine months.
She believes that although the technology industry and business are becoming more proactive in their employment of women in ICT, within the ICT industry, they are still underrepresented. “Gender stereotypes remain the biggest challenge as some roles are still perceived as not suitable for women.”
Banda relishes innovation and transformational ICT projects, and says: “My leadership style can be described as transformational. I’m goal-driven and I like new challenges. I lead by example and trust the capability of my team members to deliver what’s expected of them. The Covid-19 pandemic and remote work dynamic have made me engage with my team members more often and involve them in the decision making process, to ensure inclusivity among the team.”
Multi-faceted strategy
Her role, which encompasses addressing economic headwinds and growing threats such as the increase in cyber attacks and scams, requires the human touch and a multi-faceted strategy that balances economic resilience and cybersecurity vigilance. “Humans are our last line of defence in protecting the organisation from cyber threats. I ensure that we are a functional, skilled cybersecurity organisation, with the knowledge and understanding to respond to cyber threats, by providing continuous cybersecurity awareness and training. “My priorities are safeguarding the companies’ assets, customers’ sensitive information, and intellectual property from cyber threats and data breaches, ensuring that the organisation complies with the relevant laws and regulatory requirements, and continually assessing and improving our security posture. I ensure that the technical controls implemented are user-friendly while not compromising security.
“SafetySA is a private entity specialising in occupational health and safety training, inspection, and certification, as well as food and water testing, and MTN is our Access Point Name (APN) provider.”
Asked what gets her up in the morning, Banda says waking up in the morning is a gift denied to many. “With a new dawn come new possibilities and I always look forward to what a new day brings, whether it is opportunities or challenges
“The fact that cybercriminals don’t sleep and that they are always exploiting the vulnerable is what keeps me awake at night,” she concludes.
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