While the cybersecurity field has historically been male-dominated, a powerful generation of women now leads major global security programs, spearheads groundbreaking research, and founds top-tier defense companies.

Top women in cybersecurity leading in 2026 include Wendy Thomas (CEO, Secureworks), Deneen DeFiore (VP/CISO, United Airlines), and Kirsten Davies (CISO, Unilever). Other key leaders driving innovation and strategy include Lakshmi Hanspal (DigiCert), Sarah Armstrong-Smith (Microsoft), and Eva Galperin (EFF). They excel in areas like cloud security, threat intelligence, and, specifically,, bridging human behavior with technical security.

WiCyS is a global nonprofit community dedicated to recruiting, retaining and advancing women in cybersecurity through mentorship, technical training, professional development, thought leadership, networking and career opportunities.

WiCyS started in 2013 by Dr. Ambareen Siraj through a National Science Foundation grant awarded to Tennessee Tech University. In less than ten short years, it has grown into an organization representing a leading alliance between trailblazers from academia, government and industry.

Source: Website

Shawn Purvis serves as President and CEO of Sabel Systems, part of the Sagewind Capital Portfolio. As CEO of Sabel Systems, Ms. Purvis is responsible for all aspects of Sabel’s growth, M&A, product development and people strategy. Sabel is a leading provider of digital engineering, acquisition, manufacturing, supply chain and logistics solutions.  Shawn has recently been named as a member of the George Mason University Board of Visitors through June 30, 2029.

Over the course of Shawn’s 30 years of P&L responsibilities, she has led billiondollar organizations in the areas of defense, intelligence and cyber security technical solutions in support of the warfighter and intelligence customers both domestically and globally. Ms. Purvis has in-depth skills in driving strategy, policy, corporate strategic campaigns and financial/non-financial goals across the company. She actively participates in corporate governance in areas of risks, benefits, cyber and policies and engagements with the Board of Directors. She has a passion for customer service and delivery in support of our nation’s most critical missions.

Katie Moussouris founded Luta Security in 2016 fresh off the heels of launching Hack the Pentagon, the first ever bug bounty of the US government. She named her company after the local nickname of the CHamoru island of Rota, where her mother was born in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a US Territory.

Katie was born and raised in Boston, MA and was encouraged by her biochemist mother to study science. Her father was a Greek immigrant jeweler who taught her valuable lessons about running a bootstrapped profitable business. Katie fosters a company culture of equity and healthy boundaries, with all Luta Security FTEs paid for full time work with a 32-hour 4-day work week. She has grown Luta Security proving that businesses can be profitable by putting people first.

Source: Luta webpage