This archive report was first published on 18 October 2019.
On October 18, 2019, Microsoft reiterated its commitment to supporting women in cyber security engineering through the SheHacks annual HackFest Festival.
Speaking during the event at Strathmore Business School, Hayden Hainsworth, General Manager for Cyber Security Engineering at Microsoft, highlighted the importance of strategic partnerships and events in developing competency in tackling cyber threats in a rapidly evolving tech ecosystem.
"My mission is geared towards empowering our customers and partners to get and stay secure on their journey to cloud while inspiring the next generation of cyber security engineers," Hainsworth said.
Microsoft's partnership with SheHacks aims to prepare women to thrive in the technology industry and make it easy for anyone to take their next step forward in technology.
SheHacks Co-Founders Laura Tich and Evelyn Kilel emphasized the need for increased support towards youth in Kenya, citing the growth in the number of women and young people who want to take part in the initiative.
According to Pratik Roy, Modern Workplace and Security Business Group Lead for Microsoft in North, West, East, Southern Africa, Levant & Pakistan, Kenya has one of the highest numbers of internet users, with over 46 million people having access to the service. However, this also makes the country a lucrative target for cyber criminals.
Kenya lost 30 billion shillings to cyber-related crimes in 2018, according to a report by cyber security firm Serianu. The report also indicates that most organizations in Kenya are ill-equipped to counter such attacks, with only 1,700 certified cyber security skilled professionals.
