Dalia and Husna met in 2004 when they were studying for their Masters degree in Advanced Computing at the University of Bristol, UK, specialising in Cryptography. Dalia then went on to do a doctoral studies in Cryptography while Husna started her career as an Information Security Consultant. As the years went by, their interest in cryptography continued, which is why they named themselves “Cryptogals”. Mostly based on very interesting questions asked by the elders in the family, the Cryptogals decided to work together in demystifying security and privacy and attempt to explain complex topics with relatable day to day examples. They would like to encourage other members of the community to do the same, bringing in their diverse perspectives. Dalia currently lives in Luxembourg and Husna in The Netherlands.
MISSION
We believe that it is people who will make the cyber security world secure and technology is only a tool for them to achieve that.
Human intuitively understand the need of privacy and security in the normal day-to-day world. The challenge in today’s digital world is that the rapid change of technology is making it hard to grow the human instincts to protect themselves online.
Le Moustier Neanderthals (Charles R. Knight, 1920)
In Cryptogals our mission is to “Demystify Cyber Security”.
Goals
- Making complex cyber security topics more relatable and understandable to the wider range of audience.
- Contributing to the general awareness of the public and giving back to the society by ensuring our activities address latest trends and threats of the field.
- Encouraging more diversity in the field by reaching out to everyone who is interested, participating in relevant initiatives and being inclusive to all.
Founders
DALIA KHADER | PH.D., CISSP, GSEC Is the chief information security officer (CISO) for the international division of Swiss Life and a member of WomenCyberForce. She has more than 15 years of experience in the field of cybersecurity, including working in academia, during which she did extensive research in modern cryptography, working as a research associate at the University of Luxembourg (Kirchberg, Luxembourg) and working as a security architect for a telecom service provider. Khader won the 2021 CISO of the Year, Luxembourg award. Her work has been published by the World Economic Forum and Usenix and at RSA conferences. Her goal is to make complex cybersecurity concepts accessible to everyone. She can be reached at https://lu.linkedin.com/in/dalia-khader-2b13b6a.
HUSNA SIDDIQI | CIPP/E Is head of technology assurance management at a global organization. She has more than 16 years of experience in information security, data protection, IT risk and transformation program management across several sectors, including oil and gas, energy and utilities, consumer business, manufacturing, and professional services. Prior to becoming a consultant, Siddiqi was a computer science lecturer and a software engineer. She is chair of the independent advisory board for the UK Research and Innovation Centre for Accountable, Responsible and Transparent Artificial Intelligence (ART-AI) at the University of Bath (England). She is a World Economic Forum contributor with publications in several reputable forums. She aims to increase security and privacy awareness among diverse audiences using relatable examples and is actively involved in global initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion and address unconscious bias. She can be reached at https://uk.linkedin.com/in/husna-siddiqi-5466158