Meet Shae Potter - Cyber Security Specialist, change agent + Future Amp Youth Advisory Board Member.
“The perception of cyber security is very “edgelordy” - that it’s all hackers in hoodies with some sort of Matrix-style green binary code raining down their laptop screens. The reality is pretty different. I can’t even code - and I much prefer pink fonts anyway :)”
Shae Potter is a remarkable young woman building an incredible career as a Cyber Security Specialist in the Financial Services Industry. Newly appointed as the Regional Lead for ANZ Cyber Security Awareness with Macquarie Group, Shae is making an amazing impact on Australia’s financial services industry by protecting it against cyber crime. We’re thrilled to welcome Shae to the Future Amp Youth Advisory Board!
”Hi there - I’m Shae, and I’m an interdisciplinary cyber security professional in the financial services industry.
This blog piece will tell you the weird way I got here, and how you can, too. (And to confess, I’ve never seen The Matrix. Whoops) … that makes more sense when I say that I come from a non-technical background. I studied a Bachelor of Political, Economic and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney, majoring in Government and International Relations.
My interest in this field of study is complicated and emotional.
I had just turned four years old when the 9/11 terrorist attack happened, and the earliest memory I can recall is staring, in a fixated, morbid way, at the news coverage on the television.
I grew up in the shadow of the ‘war on terror’, where racist, divisive rhetoric was legitimised to perversely worship an effort to protect ‘us’ from the ‘other’. Of course, the world is far more nuanced. In November 2015, the news broke of a coordinated terrorist attack in France where many had died. A dear friend of mine was living in Paris at the time, and I recall being disheartened and very, very, pissed off!”
Stepping into counter-terrorism to create change
“In my degree, I focused pretty heavily on counter-terrorism studies, linking up with geopolitical, sociological, economic and political philosophy concepts. (I challenge you to find anything further away from STEM than studying about the political philosophy of the French Revolution!). But, as my studies developed, it was clear that a nexus existed between terrorist tactics and cyber space.
I knew that I didn’t want to relocate to Canberra to work for the government - despite the lockout laws, in 2017 I deeply appreciated breathtakingly decadent lurid nights out and following the street art scene. What actually cinched it for me was that I didn’t have a driver’s licence, and you actually need one of those for most intelligence roles! So I figured I should try my hand at a cyber security job.”
Linkedin, lifelong learning + leaning in!
“With my degree and some free online cyber certificates in hand, I sat down to eagerly apply for graduate programs. But unfortunately nobody let me in on the crucial detail that you had to apply a year in advance … (what the heck!!!)
I had flashbacks of my night shift uni job and nearly threw up at the prospect of working there another year while my grad role was processed. So I did what any desperate 20-year-old needing a corporate career in a field they had zero experience in, did: I created a LinkedIn profile! And then I searched the keyword ‘cyber’ and pretty much bulk connection requested everyone fitting that description. I also wrote a few pithy statuses about needing a ‘foot in the door’. To my great surprise, many people responded!
What I love about the cyber security industry is the generous community of professionals who are eager to give you a helping hand. Now that I’ve been in the industry for nearly three years, I have appreciated the support of many organisations, like Future Amp and Girledworld, that amplify opportunities in the sector for women and young folk.
Another great aspect of cyber security is that everyone is continuously learning, so you can enter the field with no knowledge, like I did, and get up to speed fairly quickly. Also, because there’s always new attack vectors and vulnerabilities being exposed, it doesn’t matter if you’re two months or 20 years into cyber, nobody can ‘master’ it and know it all. The main thing is you certainly don’t need a degree in computer science - you just need a good attitude, an appetite for lifelong learning and an eagerness to do well.
Finally, I think It is absolutely crucial is that we have a diverse range of people working in cyber security and technology. Problems will be solved in a better and more dynamic way when there’s a representative intersectional mix at the table.
We interface with technology every day, so we need people who understand humans, too - ethicists, sociologists, political scientists, English literature majors and artists!”
“Technologists are quite literally writing the future in code and algorithms. Be a part of that and be loud about it!”