- Women protecting organisations across seven countries are invited to share practical expertise, with five winners gaining wider industry recognition
- Women leaders from cybersecurity, technology and information security across the region join the CybHER jury, including Sumayya Shafi, Information Technology Manager at Dubai Petroleum
October 20, 2026, Dubai, UAE: ParamountAssure, a UAE-headquartered cybersecurity company, has announced its inaugural ‘Paramount CybHER Awards’ to recognise the expertise and contributions of women protecting their organisations from cyber risk. Registrations are open for women working in cybersecurity and governance, risk and compliance across India, Australia, the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Participants are invited to share practical knowledge that can contribute to the wider cybersecurity profession.
The initiative comes as women remain underrepresented in cybersecurity, with the Global Cybersecurity Forum and Boston Consulting Group’s Cybersecurity Workforce Report estimating their share of the global cybersecurity workforce at 24%. Paramount has unveiled CybHER to recognise women in the public and private sector who implement and oversee cybersecurity in practice and keep operations running.
Premchand Kurup, CEO of ParamountAssure, said: “Women in organisations understand how cybersecurity decisions affect the wider business. Through our interactions, we see women applying sound judgement to complex security and risk challenges every day. Their experience deserves greater visibility. CybHER gives them a platform to share their approaches and lessons, while showing women considering cybersecurity the range of skills and career paths within the profession.”
Five winners will each receive a citation and award recognition, bringing their expertise to a wider professional audience. Selected on the merit of their submissions, winners will gain recognition for the quality of their thinking and the contribution their ideas can make to the cybersecurity community.
Participants can choose the format that best communicates their thinking, submitting an original article or blog of up to 1,000 words, a presentation of up to 10 slides, or a one-minute video. Entries should offer practical insights or useful frameworks, explaining an approach to a cybersecurity challenge or sharing lessons that other professionals can apply. The emphasis is on communicating expertise clearly and giving readers or viewers ideas they can use in their own work.
Ashok Chandrasekharan, COO at ParamountAssure, said: “Women currently make up 25% of ParamountAssure’s workforce and leadership contributing across different functions within our business. We see first-hand the value of their expertise in supporting our work with clients. CybHER reflects our belief that the contributions of women in cybersecurity should be recognised and shared more widely across the industry.”
The awards are open to women whose roles involve protecting their employer’s systems and information, including professionals responsible for security, risk, compliance or privacy. Eligibility extends across technical, managerial and leadership positions, reflecting the different ways women help organisations prevent and respond to cyber threats. Participants can draw on experience in security operations or in setting and overseeing the policies that guide how their organisation manages digital risk.
The independent jury includes Sumayya Shafi, Information Technology Manager at Dubai Petroleum, Amna Al Balushi, Chief Information Security Officer and Head of IT Governance at a leading bank in Oman, and Mariam Ben Dhafari, Director of the Information Systems Center at the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development in Kuwait. Together, they will assess submissions on demonstrated expertise and originality, considering their practical value, clarity, analytical thinking and potential industry impact.
Sumayya Shafi, Information Technology Manager at Dubai Petroleum, said: “There is still a perception that technical and cybersecurity roles are predominantly male, and many women working in these fields remain underrepresented in the wider industry conversation. Women are already leading in these fields across organisations, and recognising their work is an important step towards closing that gap. CybHER provides a platform to bring these contributions into greater focus.”
The application window will close on November 30, 2026 at 11:59 pm GST (UTC+4), with the announcement of five winners scheduled in January 2027. Eligible professionals can visit the website for further updates, including full participation criteria and submission guidance.
-END-
About ParamountAssureFounded in 1992 and headquartered in the UAE, Paramount Assure operates across seven countries and supports more than 350 clients across government, banking, healthcare, telecom, retail and energy. Its 600+ cybersecurity professionals deliver services ranging from next-generation SOC operations and data governance to AI-enabled risk management, helping organisations build resilience in an era of fast-changing digital threats. For more information, visit www.paramountassure.com