"It's an outdated perception, and fortunately it is changing"
Data shows that only about 26% of workers in the cyber field are women, and only 5.1% of companies in the field are led by female CEOs. On the occasion of International Women in Cyber Day, Liron Yosifian from Check Point, Gal Cohen from MIND, and Noam Raveh from Sweet Security discuss their professional paths, the impact of the AI revolution, and explain why the image of the field must change: "The image of a hacker in all of our heads is still a man in a hoodie."
International Women in Cyber Day is celebrated annually on September 1st. It serves as a reminder of a less festive figure: according to the Women in High-Tech 2025 report, women make up about a third of Israeli high-tech workers, but in the cyber sectors and research and development roles, the rate is lower and stands at about 26%. According to the report, the number of women in R&D roles in Israel has grown by 140% within a decade, but they still constitute only about 26.5% of those employed in R&D. According to the Innovation Authority, only 5.1% of CEOs of Israeli cyber companies are women in 2025.
"For years, there was a misconception that technological and analytical professions are more suitable for men," says Liron Yosifian, 34, a group leader in the research department at the cyber company Check Point. "It's an outdated perception, and fortunately it is changing, but it still has an influence from a young age on the choices that girls and women make."
International Women in Cyber Day was founded in 2018 by Lisa Crani, founder and CEO of the Women CyberSecurity Society. Its goal is to highlight the contribution of women to the cyber industry, to raise awareness of the barriers that still exist in the field, and to encourage more women and girls to choose a career in cyber.
Yosifian studied computer science and began her career at Check Point, where she has been working for ten years. She advanced from a sales development role to managing a group in the research department.
"One of the things I love about cyber research is that there is no day that looks like the one before it," says Yosifian. In her group, there are four teams: three research teams that specialize in creating defenses for Check Point's network security products, and a development team that builds tools and automations to accelerate research work.
The AI revolution, says Yosifian, has changed both the attacking side and the defending side. "On one hand, it changes the way attackers operate. On the other hand, it also gives us, as researchers, new tools to analyze information, develop automations, and respond to threats at a speed that was not possible in the past."
Gal Cohen, 26, a development team leader at the cyber company MIND, was exposed to cyber already during her service in 8200. "In cyber, there is a lot of room for creative thinking and technological deepening, and sometimes it is precisely the risk scenarios that customers did not think of in advance that create a lot of value for them," she adds.
"Cyber grew out of technological and security worlds that historically had a male majority, so I think this image still accompanies it to some extent," says Cohen. "Fortunately, I feel that reality is changing and I see more and more women around me in significant technological roles."
Noam Raveh, 30, Product Team Lead at Sweet Security, studied computer science at the Technion. She arrived at cyber quite by chance. "It is a field that changes every day, is strongly connected to everything that is happening with AI, and has an excellent balance between depth and accumulated experience and innovation and creativity," says Raveh.
Raveh points to the cultural image of the field as one of the barriers: "The image of a hacker in all of our heads is still a man in a hoodie in front of a screen. If these are the characters that are seen, it will be hard for a girl to imagine herself there. This creates a loop — fewer women in the field, fewer role models. But it is definitely a loop that can be broken."
Their tips for success in the field emphasize curiosity, daring, and independent learning. Yosifian talks about persistence and the ability not to be afraid of failures: "My career is an example that you don't have to start exactly where you want to end. The most important thing is not to let failures stop you."
Cohen puts emphasis on continuous learning: "Professional curiosity is a significant part of this — to ask questions and continue to research topics deeper."
Raveh summarizes with two principles: "Don't be afraid to ask. And when you already have something to say, say it — your voice is worth exactly the same as anyone else's in the room. And another tip — find a role model. When you see someone who has already done it, everything feels more possible and less scary."
