Associate Professor of Computer Science Daphne Yao and her colleague Professor Elisa Bertino from Purdue presided over the first Cyber(W) workshop in Dallas, Texas on Oct. 30.
The workshop was inspired by the significant gender imbalance in all security conferences, in terms of the number of publishing authors, PC members, organizers, and attendees. What causes this gender imbalance remains unclear. However, multiple research studies have shown that a diverse group is more creative, diligent, and productive than a homogeneous group. In order to maintain a sustainable and creative workforce, substantial efforts need to be made by our security community to broaden the participation from all underrepresented groups in cyber security research conferences.
The workshop co-located with the ACM CCS, one of the top security conferences in the world.
The workshop received generous sponsorships from CRA-W, ACM SIGSAC, the Virginia Tech Department of Computer Science and Stack Center, MIT Lincoln Laboratories, and the University of Texas, Dallas.