Women in cybersecurity

Vanguard began partnering with the Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS) organization in 2023 and continues to have representatives attend WiCyS conferences as an employer of choice for women pursuing cybersecurity careers.

Hear from Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Manish Nagar and Global Head of Fraud and Physical Security Vanessa Richards about the importance of cybersecurity, why Vanguard is a great place for a cybersecurity career, and why having women represented in cybersecurity roles matters.

Why is cybersecurity such an important and compelling career at Vanguard? And more specifically, why should someone begin or continue their cybersecurity career at our organization?

Manish: Each day Vanguard is met with new obstacles that continually increase the complexity of our employees’ work. In our efforts to secure the $9 trillion that we manage on behalf of more than 50 million investors, we face millions of threats daily from potent bad actors who attempt to breach Vanguard and steal our clients’ funds or our client’s information.

This means that we must constantly evolve as a security and risk organization to keep Vanguard protected from the evolving threat landscape so that our clients stay protected. We’re also finding that with the ubiquity of attack tools and information so easily—and cheaply—accessible to anyone, more bad actors are getting into the game. This increasing volume alone presents heightened challenges to organizations across industries.

And the threats aren’t just coming from bad actors alone: Vanguard is also combatting advancements in new enabling technologies, like expansive botnets, quantum computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), and other technologies that pose risks.

We invest in continual research of these emerging technologies, tactics, and techniques to implement defensive measures to try and stay ahead of these threat actors. We also bring in and continuously develop talent to voice creative ideas focused on future-proofing our security tools and processes to ensure we can protect our clients’ financial futures.

These challenges can also be viewed as opportunities. At Vanguard, our employees play a key role in advancing our mission of giving investors the best chance for investment success. They do this by protecting our clients’ assets around the globe so they can reach their goals—whether that’s saving for retirement, funding their children’s education, or putting a down payment on a home. It’s a meaningful mission!

Why is having women in our Enterprise Security & Fraud (ES&F) Division and industry overall so important to you? Why is the WiCyS mission of “Attract, Engage, Advance” important to Vanguard? To our industry?

Manish: Vanguard is always looking to recruit, retain, and advance our community of women in cybersecurity and across all disciplines. Having women in cybersecurity is crucial for gaining diverse perspectives, enhancing problem-solving, and fostering innovation. A gender-inclusive cybersecurity workforce improves our overall effectiveness, as diverse teams are better equipped to understand and mitigate a wide range of threats.

So, fostering our existing and potential network of women in cybersecurity is imperative for us in ES&F, and it’s why Vanguard partnered with the WiCyS organization in 2023. This partnership helps connect us with a diverse community of candidates in our growing field.

In addition to attracting the right talent, Vanguard makes intentional investments in our employees through the entire talent lifecycle. Our ES&F organization works closely with one of Vanguard’s internal employee resource groups, Women’s Initiative for Leadership Success (WILS). Vanessa Richards, a member of my leadership team, is our division’s champion in the WILS organization.

Vanessa: The WILS mission is to “Equip, Engage, Empower”, which resonates with WiCyS’s mission to bring talented women together to celebrate and foster their passion for cybersecurity. The WILS organization at Vanguard works to cultivate an inclusive community where all women are equipped to succeed in their current and future roles, engaged with the work they do and their community, and empowered to experience a sense of belonging through a series of events, resources, and conversations.

I am deeply fortunate to have wonderful women and allies in ES&F who every day, bring their enthusiasm, commitment, and intelligence to our mission.  And I always value the opportunity to take these lessons and pay them forward by being available for and supportive of the numerous talented women who are just beginning their career at Vanguard—including potentially a few of you!

Interested in a career at Vanguard? Check out these opportunities in our Global Risk and Security division.