Laurence Morvan, Chair of JA Europe and Chief of Staff to Accenture Europe, Middle East CEO, shares her insights on the rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape, the financial risks of cyber threats, and the urgent need to empower more girls and women to shape the future of technology.
Importance of cybersecurity
1.What is the current growth rate of the cybersecurity services market? Can you provide recent data or trends in percentage terms?
As the WEF Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2025 report written in collaboration with Accenture calls out, the cybersecurity landscape is increasingly complex and the number and frequency of cyberattacks is on the rise. This is driven by escalating geopolitical tensions, complex and inter-dependent supply chains, rapid adoption of new technologies like AI contributing to new vulnerabilities, such as data breaches, but think also of the increased sophistication of deepfakes. Regulations bolster cyber resilience, but their fragmentation across jurisdiction adds complexity to comply. All these challenges are exacerbated by a widening skills gap between large and small organizations. As a result, the cybersecurity services market is experiencing strong double digit growth.
2. What are the main financial risks associated with cybersecurity breaches, and how can these translate into monetary losses for companies?
Cybersecurity breaches can indeed lead to significant financial costs. These can be direct costs to respond to the incidents and improve security measures, to indirect costs stemming from business disruption such as downtime, loss of productivity, inability to provide services to customers resulting in revenue loss. And beyond the immediate financial costs are the monetary losses overtime driven by the loss of customer trust, reputation damage, and loss of sensitive information or IP. Yearly cost of cybersecurity crime is estimated at $10.5 T.
3. Can you share some examples of successful cybersecurity strategies implemented by companies like Accenture? What impact did these strategies have on financial security?
Accenture provides a comprehensive suite of cybersecurity services to companies designed to protect assets, build resilience and respond effectively to threats. The services span from cybersecurity strategy to prevent, detect and respond to cyber threats to applied cybersecurity to protect critical resources such as data, identities, infrastructure, to managed services to manage organizations’ cybersecurity operations.
We apply to ourselves what we preach to clients with very robust cybersecurity governance, processes and employee training. Bear in mind that one of the key vulnerability is people, so we receive lots of training as employees to detect risk such as phishing and apply the right protection protocols.
Empowering girls in cybersecurity
1. Why is it important to invest in young girls and women in the field of cybersecurity?
We face a high and growing shortage of skilled professionals in cybersecurity, and women only make 20 to 25% of the workforce. These are highly qualified jobs that command high salaries and interesting careers. So it is crucial to encourage more women to enter the field to tap into this vast talent pool. It is also important to create a more inclusive and representative pool of technologists. Technology is used by everyone, and those who design and secure it should reflect the diversity of users to develop solutions with a wider range of users and their needs in mind.
2. What specific skills do girls need to succeed in cybersecurity roles? Are mathematical and analytical skills a prerequisite?
There are a variety of roles from specialized development roles which require foundational technical knowledge in core technical skills such as network architecture, security tools and technology, coding… to more generalist roles focused on applying security principles and tools. So while mathematical and analytical skills play a role, there are many soft skills that are essential, such as communication skills to explain technical concepts to both technical and non technical people, attention to details, teamwork and collaboration, and adaptability and continuous learning as the cybersecurity landscape is continuously evolving.
3. Could you share examples of initiatives that Accenture or other organizations have undertaken to support girls in acquiring cybersecurity skills?
We work with a variety of organizations to encourage youth to consider STEM careers, and some programs have a specific focus on girls. These programs span from awareness, for instance intervening in primary or secondary schools to demystify coding through gaming, to more extensive skilling programs, for instance with JA Europe, where we have helped JA Europe embed specific training modules on Artificial Intelligence in the JA programs. Very specifically on cybersecurity, we have run an upskilling program for Ukrainian Women refugees.
4. How does Accenture ensure that girls from diverse backgrounds have access to cybersecurity education and career opportunities?
We have always believed that attracting, hiring and developing people who have different backgrounds, different perspectives and different experiences are essential to driving innovation and serving global companies across multiple industries. We are committed to an inclusive merit-based workplace free from bias, and a culture in which all our people are respected, feel a sense of belonging and have equal opportunities. This means that we pay particular attention to hiring from a diverse pool of people, we actively try to recruit women and participate to career fairs, we offer flexible work arrangement like remote work and parent programs that are particularly beneficial for women with caregiving responsibilities, we have many employee resources groups to network and offer support, and we conduct regular audit to ensure equal pay for equal work and merit based career advancement.
Addressing the gender gap
1. Why are there still so few women working in cybersecurity and technology in general? What are the main challenges they face?
There are societal stereotypes and gender bias. From a young age, societal stereotypes may discourage girls from pursuing interests and education in STEM. Young girls often lack role models and mentors. Then the perception of cybersecurity in media is the image of a male ‘hacker’, which can make the field seem unappealing or inaccessible to women. This can lead to a lack of awareness among women that cybersecurity offers a wide range of roles beyond highly technical hacking.
2. What steps can organizations take to bridge the gender gap in cybersecurity roles? Can you give examples of successful programs or initiatives?
This requires a multi-facet approach that addresses the issue from early education to promote STEM education for girls through engaging activities and workshops, to introduce basic cybersecurity concepts into school curricula (as has been done for coding to raise awareness of IT), to higher education by increasing awareness of cybersecurity careers. It requires companies to challenge their recruiting practices to widen the talent pool. Then it requires companies to foster inclusive work environments. All stakeholders have a role to play, teachers, policy makers, companies.
3. Why is it crucial to address the lack of female representation in cybersecurity from a global perspective rather than just a regional one?
The WEF Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2025 report written in collaboration with Accenture highlights that there is a significant divide between regions in terms of cybersecurity resilience and capabilities. And the access of women to higher education also varies by region. So programs need to cater to the local disparities.
4. Are there cross-border initiatives or collaborations aimed at encouraging girls to enter the cybersecurity field? If so, could you highlight a few?
EU is a good example of fostering cross-border initiatives whether around coding, STEM or cybersecurity.
Get involved: Women & Girls in STEM Forum 2025
Are you a girl aged 14–19 with a passion for technology, innovation, or cybersecurity? Don’t miss the chance to join the Women & Girls in STEM Forum 2025, hosted by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology and the European Commission. This year’s theme is Cybersecurity, and the Forum is calling on girls across Europe to team up, design creative solutions for real-world cyber challenges, and pitch their ideas for a chance to present live in Brussels!
Whether you’re interested in tackling phishing, password security, or online privacy, this is your opportunity to make your mark, meet students from 30+ countries, and join a powerful community of young innovators. Applications are open now—form your team, develop your idea, and submit by June 30, 2025. Visit eit-girlsgocircular.eu/2025-women-and-girls-in-stem-forum/ to learn more and apply.
