Earlier this year, the Gurus caught up with Ilona Simpson, CIO EMEA at Netskope, to talk all things wellbeing in cybersecurity for The Cyber Mindfulness Corner. What transpired during our short Infosecurity Europe interview was that Ilona had a wealth of valuable industry knowledge and insight to share. So, we caught up with Ilona again to discuss her journey to the top, diversity in cybersecurity, and banishing the boy’s club.
On Herself and Her Rise to the Top
When Ilona describes herself, she says: “I’ve been in IT for 20 years. I’ve been in executive teams of very famous and admirable companies. I have two kids and a lovely husband… I’m a mother, I’m a wife, I’m a chef, I’m a cleaner… That’s it, you’re not going to get a façade.”
When it comes to family, Simpson notes that she once felt “awkward” telling people she was a mother. But it gave her the will to take a risk and try different jobs that hadn’t fitted into her career progression until then.
Simpson was born and raised “in the slums of the Soviet Union”. She emigrated to Germany at 21, without knowing the language, but with a “desire and longing to connect, to be part of something, and to succeed.” She gained a degree in psychology and then did a masters. And succeed she did.
As Simpson moved up the ranks in various corporate companies she realised that she was doing increasingly more but being taken away from tech: “it’s strategy, it’s people, it’s stakeholder management, it’s influencing, it’s ..
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