Celebrating Canadian Excellence: Two DND/CAF members named in the Top 20 Women in Cyber Security

September 23, 2020 - Defence Stories

Earlier this year, news outlet IT World Canada (ITWC) and the Women in Security and Resilience Alliance (WISECRA) teamed up to recognize the Top 20 Women in Cyber Security. This inaugural list celebrates outstanding women in Canada and their work in cyber.

The Defence Team is proud that two of its own members were recognized: Lieutenant Colonel (LCol) Lauren Banks, Strategic Joint Staff (SJS formerly from ADM(IM)), and Ms. Sherry Rumbolt, from Assistant Deputy Minister (Information Management) (ADM(IM)).

LCol Lauren Banks

“Cyber security is partially about the technical aspect, but most importantly, it is about people”, says LCol Banks. She began working in cyber security with the Canadian Armed Forces in 2014. Since then, she has worked in numerous staff and leadership positions within the Royal Canadian Air Force and Canadian Forces Information Operations Group, most recently as the Deputy Commanding Officer of the Canadian Armed Forces Network Operations Centre (CFNOC) in ADM(IM). She has deployed to Qatar as the Canadian Cyber Operations Planner, and after completing the Joint Command and Staff Program in Toronto this past year, she is now the Cyber Operations Section Head of the Strategic Joint Staff (SJS).

LCol Lauren Banks comes from a military family, where she is one of four daughters to serve in the military. She says both when she joined the military at 17 and when she decided to pursue a career in cyber security, it did not immediately occur to her that she would be one of the only women in the room for the majority of her career. “It has not always been easy, but I have come to realize the power that diverse voices and ideas can bring to an organization and the importance of ensuring that we remove any barriers, whether overt or perceived, in order to open the doors for more of those voices,” says LCol Banks.

Ms. Sherry Rumbolt

Sherry was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces for 21 years before retiring in 2011. However, she began her career in cyber security back in 2004 when she worked at ADM(IM)’s CFNOC in both Computer Incident Response and Forensics. She went on to work at a variety of cyber security positions before becoming the Defence Wide Area Network Information Systems Security Officer within ADM(IM).

“I feel so privileged to be named amongst 20 of the most educated and inspirational women in cyber security for Canada. This inaugural celebration was a great opportunity for women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields (STEM) to receive well deserved recognition for their work,” says Sherry. She says working in cyber security is like drinking through a firehouse; every day is a new adventure, but she loves every minute of it. Sherry also believes that mentors have been a key part in allowing her to carve her own career path.

Throughout her career, Sherry has had a multitude of accomplishments in addition to her roles in the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces (DND/CAF). She has held many volunteer cyber security positions such as the President of ISACA Victoria and CISO Advisory Forum for Canada. Sherry has spoken at events in both the private and public sectors, focusing on inclusion of women in cyber security and was named runner up for the International Woman in Cybersecurity award in 2017.

It is important to highlight excellence, leadership and resilience within our communities as it will inspire the next generation of women and men in the cyber security disciplines. 

Women are underrepresented in STEM, but women like LCol Banks and Sherry Rumbolt are reversing this trend and innovating for change! Diversity is a strength, and with it we can enable more innovation in our work.

DND/CAF takes pride in the accomplishments of LCol Banks and Sherry Rumbolt. Our personnel are our biggest assets to ensuring the security of our networks and members, at home and abroad.

Thank you LCol Lauren Banks and Sherry Rumbolt for your outstanding contributions to DND/CAF and congratulations on this well-deserved recognition!