The Diana Initiative 2021

Advancing DEI seems fraught and full of friction, but what if we already have the playbook? Consider diversity in the same way we consider security: we focus on detection capabilities and awareness first, then inventory assets, and build readiness to respond to difficult incidents. We think about protection, defense, and recovery in light of threats and impacts.



In both security and diversity, many organizations lack these capabilities and struggle to build capacity in them. Some key concepts and practices are easily adaptable from security to diversity: tabletop exercises, vulnerability scans, privilege escalation, and collective defense. Once we start to examine the problems through a similar frame, even the cliches are congruent: FUD is unhelpful, response is enough, it can’t be bolted on after the fact, etc.



Many of us are in cybersecurity because we are the type of people who take action - to mitigate the threat and reduce the risk. As history unfolds in these days, we challenge ourselves to write the next chapter with compassion, courage, and accountability. With our experience as security professionals, we are equipped with the tools and training to defend diversity the same way we defend technology.



This talk explains how.