Poppy Gustafsson: redefining
cybersecurity through AI
Syeda Maseeha Qumer and Syeda Ikrama
Introduction
In November 2020, Poppy Gustafsson (she), Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
of the UK-based Darktrace Plc (Darktrace), one of the world’s leading cybersecurity artificial
intelligence (AI) companies, was named Vodafone’s Woman of the Year for Technology and
Innovation in the 2020 Women of the Year Awards. She was recognized for her
groundbreaking work in the field of cybersecurity, particularly as the COVID-19 [1]
pandemic had increased the threat of cyberattacks for businesses to critical levels.
Darktrace applied AI and machine learning concepts to address the increasingly complex
problem of cyberattacks and protected over 5,600 customers worldwide from advanced
threats, including ransomware and cloud and SaaS attacks, as of June 2021. Applauding
her contribution to the field of cybersecurity, Anne Sheehan (she), Business Director of
Vodafone UK, said, “We were delighted to present the Woman of Technology and
Innovation Award to Poppy Gustafsson OBE. She is such an inspiring person and her work
in cyber security – an area that has become so integral to businesses – is incredible. We
hope Poppy’s success will inspire more women to pursue careers in this important area of
technology” [2].
Founded in 2013 by mathematicians and cyber experts, Darktrace provided
comprehensive, enterprise-wide cyber defense to organizations worldwide, protecting the
cloud, e-mail, Internet of Things (IoT), traditional networks, endpoints and industrial
systems. It was one of the first cybersecurity companies in the world to use AI to defend
organizations from cyberattacks and insider threats.
Initially, Gustafsson held an executive position at Darktrace. Later, she went on to become
the CEO of the cybersecurity company in 2016 and then led the business to its first initial
public offering (IPO) in April 2021. Her work did not stop at just providing cybersecurity to
businesses as she led internal and external efforts to encourage women to join the tech
industry. She promoted gender diversity at Darktrace where 40% of employees and four
C-level executives were women. Gustafsson collaborated with WISE, a UK-based social
enterprise, to encourage more women to join the field of science, technology, engineering
and mathematics (STEM). According to industry observers, she was an inspirational leader
and role model who played a vital role in making Darktrace a global tech champion. Under
her leadership, the company experienced significant growth and global expansion, with
about 4,700 customers and 1,500 employees globally as of 2020 and reached a US$1.6bn
valuation in just under five years. Though Gustafsson faced some challenges while working
in the technology field, she believed that her legacy would inspire other women to enter the
cybersecurity stream.
However, her success came with its own challenges that included developing and
enhancing Darktrace’s platform to adapt to the increasingly sophisticated nature of
Syeda Maseeha Qumer
and Syeda Ikrama are both
based at the Case
Research Centre, The
Institute of Chartered
Financial Analysts of India
(ICFAI) Business School,
Hyderabad, India.
© ICFAI Business School
DOI 10.1108/CFW.2022.000001 2022, pp. 1-38, Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2732-4443j THE CASE FOR WOMENj PAGE 1
cyberattacks, meeting the changing cyber protection demands of its customers and hiring,
training and retaining highly skilled cybersecurity personnel. Going forward, the challenges
she would need to tackle were growing competition in the cybersecurity space, sustaining
revenue growth and turning profitable as Darktrace had incurred losses every year since its
inception. Moreover, as COVID-19 accelerated the move to digital for all businesses and
exposed new threats and the vulnerabilities of these businesses to cyber and financial
crimes, Gustafsson and her team needed to confront new forms of cyberattacks and
threats, said analysts. “As our society becomes increasingly dependent on technology,
cybersecurity is one of our biggest challenges. And, it affects every sector and every
individual. Our critical infrastructure. Our banks. Our governments. You’re reading this on a
device that’s connected to the internet, and it’s probably got some information on there you
would rather not land on the Dark Web. And, the challenge is only getting more
complicated. It helps me get up in the morning knowing that I am part of an organization
tackling this challenge head-on, protecting data integrity and helping rebuild trust in critical
institutions” [3] Gustafsson said.
The 2021 World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Risk Report named “cybersecurity
challenges” as the fourth most pressing danger to the global economy. With attacks that
were being played out in the cyber world having a practical impact on the public,
Gustafsson and her company could be playing a very important role going forward, stated
analysts. However, some analysts wondered whether Darktrace would be able to
successfully meet the changing cyber protection demands of its customers amid growing
cyber threats. How would she deal with the cybersecurity talent shortage? Could she
sustain Darktrace’s position as one of the world’s leading cybersecurity AI companies? How
long would it take Darktrace to turn profitable? What more could she do to inspire and
encourage more women to enter the cybersecurity field?
Early years
Gustafsson was born on August 24, 1982. She grew up in Cambridgeshire, where her father
ran an agricultural sales business and her mother was a journalist for an agricultural
magazine called Farmers Weekly. Reportedly, Gustafsson had been a gender stereotypebreaker for much of her life and had always had an analytical mindset. After completing her
schooling at Hinchingbrooke High School, she graduated in mathematics from the
University of Sheffield in 2003 where her first student job was building kitchen cabinets. In
2004, she joined professional services firm Deloitte LLP and was qualified as a chartered
accountant. Between 2008 and 2009, she worked as a Fund Manager at Amadeus Capital
Partners, a venture capital firm. From an early age, Gustafsson was ambitious and
technology oriented. “I’ve always had an analytical, commercial mind. My mum owned
chickens and, at the age of 12, I was putting together business plans to help her sell more
eggs. But I’ve never had a career plan. I’ve just gone out and done what I’m good at – and
then tried to do it better. Don’t be shackled by expectations,” (Bassett, 2018) she said.
In 2009, Gustafsson joined Cambridge-based enterprise software company Autonomy
Corporation plc (Autonomy), as a Corporate Controller. This was followed by a brief spell at
venture capital firm Invoke Capital owned by Autonomy founder Mike Lynch [4] (he). Then,
the opportunity to join Darktrace’s founding team came along. Back then, the cybersecurity
industry was in its infancy, and most corporations relied on firewalls to tackle cyberattacks.
However, cyber criminals were getting more sophisticated, and traditional security
measures were just not effective enough to deal with modern security threats. In 2013, the
number of cyberattacks involving malware designed to steal financial data increased by
27.6% to reach 28,400,000 [5].
Gustafsson cofounded Darktrace in 2013 with her colleagues from Autonomy Dave
Palmer [6] (He), Emily Orton [7] (she), Jack Stockdale [8] (he) and Nicole Eagan [9] (she) in
collaboration with cyber experts from various government intelligence agencies such as
PAGE 2j THE CASE FOR WOMENj 2022
Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) [10], and Military Intelligence, Section
5 (MI5) [11] and mathematicians who were experts in machine learning. Together, they
believed that AI and machine learning would help in detecting a host of online threats, such
as latent vulnerabilities, state-sponsored espionage, insider attacks and cloud-based
threats. Recalling her early years at Darktrace, Gustafsson said, “The spooks, who came
from MI5 and GCHQ [the Government’s intelligence agency] all felt that a cyber breach was
inevitable. The geeks were mathematicians from Cambridge University, all specialists in
artificial intelligence (AI). And I was the chief financial officer. I was technically at Darktrace
before it existed because I paid £15 to incorporate the company” [12].
Darktrace was initially funded by a venture capital firm Invoke Capital, which belonged to
Lynch. Reportedly, Lynch invested about £1.3m in the cybersecurity company (Nicholls,
2014). According to Gustafsson, she was attracted to Darktrace because of the ambitions
and vision the company had. She was passionate about working with innovative
technologies such as AI that helped in tackling cyber threats and protecting society. Her
role model was Dr Rosemary Francis (she), Founder and CEO of input/output profiling
company Ellexus, who brought innovation to technology and solved the IT infrastructure
problems in the semiconductor industry. From day one, Gustafsson and her team at
Darktrace worked relentlessly to build a technology that could defend any kind of digital
infrastructure. “In terms of the business, we had our sights set on being global from day
one, setting up dual headquarters in Cambridge as well as in San Francisco. The UK is
brilliant at technology and science and building start-ups into mid-size companies, but we
always wanted to go further and break the glass ceiling,” (Crocker, 2020) Gustafsson said.
The company adopted a radically different approach to cyber defense from traditional
solutions. Darktrace’s founding team created a system modeled on the human immune
system that was installed within a network and learnt an organization’s normal activity using
AI. If the pattern changed, it could quickly identify the attack and mount a defense.
Darktrace used advanced machine learning and mathematics to detect cyber threats and
did not need previous knowledge of threats. Like a human immune system – Darktrace’s
self-learning technology established what “normal” looked like on the network and identified
anomalous behaviors, allowing organizations to respond to early-stage threats before
damage was done. The company’s clients were asked to plug a Darktrace box into their
network. The AI studied how employees behaved on their computers and then drew up a
visualization of where there were issues. According to the company, its broad approach
was in contrast to traditional siloed solutions, which predefined what was bad and created
perimeters around specific components that could leave exploitable gaps in protection.
Darktrace sold B2B cyber security products to protect e-mail, the cloud and SaaS, among
others. One of the first products created by Darktrace was Enterprise Immune System (EIS).
Launched in 2014, EIS was a fundamental AI technology that applied advanced AI to
identify unknown cyber threats in real time, so that those threats could be tackled even
before the occurrence of a breach. Instead of relying on historical data for predicting future
threats, the EIS emulated the human immune system by iteratively adapting to new cyber
threats. “We call the whole approach the Enterprise Immune System. It’s a pertinent way to
describe it. If you think about the human body, you have the skin, which is the physical
barrier, but you also have an immune system. It’s the most complex biological system
because it’s constantly adapting and learning what’s part of me and what’s not me. Without
us knowing, our antibodies are doing a lot of work for us all the time. We take a similar
approach,” (Brackley, 2017) explained Orton. Darktrace’s primary approach to acquire new
customers was through the Proof of Value (“POV”) trials of its technology. The first customer
of Darktrace was Drax, the UK’s major power station.
By 2015, Darktrace had grown rapidly, employing a global team and serving customers
worldwide, including leading organizations in the critical infrastructure and financial
2022 j THE CASE FOR WOMENj PAGE 3
services sectors and several Fortune 100 corporations. In July 2015, it raised US$39m in
Series B funding led by Summit Partners, a global growth equity investor [13].
Initially, Gustafsson was the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Darktrace and in 2014, she was
promoted to the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO). In October 2016, she was
appointed as a Co-CEO of Darktrace alongside Cofounder Eagan. Eagan was based in the
USA, while Gustafsson headed the business in Cambridge, UK. To have two women CEOs
as Darktrace did in a cybersecurity industry where just 24% of the total workforce were
female was remarkable and almost unheard of, said industry observers. According to them,
the duo doubled down on Darktrace’s growth and challenged the status quo. As Co-CEO,
Eagan had overseen Darktrace’s meteoric rise as the leading player in AI cyber security.
According to Gustafsson, having Eagan, who was an American, in the USA was
fundamental to Darktrace’s success as Eagan’s knowledge and experience in marketing in
the US industries was world class. “To be honest, it’s always been the way that we’ve run
the business. It’s always been a partnership between the two of us. I am a mathematician
way back when, and then a chartered accountant, so I’m very much the data and sort of
numerical person. Nicole has got a very extensive marketing experience, so she’s very
experienced in the market positioning and understanding the customer’s needs and how
we translate that into the product roadmap. Really, we’ve got those very complimentary skill
sets. There’s no way I’d be able to step into her shoes, and likewise, she couldn’t
necessarily mine. That becomes a very complimentary partnership, and the way that we’ve
always run this business, really” [14], Gustafsson said.
Eagan worked tirelessly to deliver Darktrace to more than 3,000 customers worldwide,
demonstrating why the company’s unique approach was capable of thwarting the most
sophisticated cyberattacks. Under Eagan’s guidance, Darktrace defended smart cities like
Las Vegas, whose water reclamation system and industrial IoT sensors were endangered
by state-sponsored threat actors. Eagan also traveled the world to explain why adaptive AI
cyber defenses were a necessity in building the cities of tomorrow. According to Eagan,
“Cybersecurity is fast becoming an all-out arms race. Definitely between the attackers and
the defenders and I think what’s up for grabs is all of the information and intellectual
property inside corporate networks. It definitely is a battle of mathematical algorithms
against mathematical algorithms” (Vieira, 2017). Later, in July 2020, Eagan resigned from
the CEO position and took up the roles of Chief Strategy Officer and AI Officer at Darktrace.
Reinventing the cybersecurity landscape
Under the leadership of Gustafsson, Darktrace reinvented enterprise security by taking a
fundamentally different approach. She marketed the products at Darktrace as the digital
equivalent to the human body’s immune system. Darktrace’s technology leveraged the
principles of the human immune system to autonomously defend organizations from
cyberattacks, insider threats and AI warfare. The slogan at Darktrace, where AI was used to
fight cybercrimes, read, “Pit the machines against the machines to keep your data safe”
(Clifford, 2018). It used deep expertise in mathematics and machine learning, as well as
operational experience to defend the critical organizational assets.
In 2016, Darktrace launched its first-ever autonomous response technology, Darktrace
Antigena, that allowed EIS to react to in-progress cyberattacks in a precise way, taking the
pressure off the security teams working to defend against the attacks. Darktrace Antigena
reportedly responded every 3 s to a cyber-threat. This Autonomous Response technology
fought back ransomware attacks such as WannaCry [15] at several National Health Service
(NHS) [16] trusts in the UK and kept its health-care services and patients’ data safe.
Immediately after the incident, sales of Darktrace skyrocketed. In 2016, Darktrace reported
a 600% year-over-year revenue increase, and its headcount grew to 300 employees
globally [17]. It expanded into the USA and Asia-Pacific.
PAGE 4j THE CASE FOR WOMENj 2022
The company continued to grow and scale, launching its new business unit, Darktrace
Industrial in November 2017. Darktrace Industrial was dedicated to fighting threats in
industrial systems and critical infrastructure networks, building on a strong base of
customers that used Darktrace AI to protect critical national infrastructure. Darktrace also
expanded to over 800 customers and over 400 employees in 24 offices globally. The
company reported revenue of US$30m for the financial year ended June 2017. Gustafsson
said she had faced several challenges as she continued to grow and scale Darktrace
globally. “The most challenging part in raising external VC funding is that it can be timeconsuming. Challenges vary according to the stage you are at. Early on, you have to justify
your technology and persuade investors that you have the ability to grab market share from
incumbents. Further down the line, you have to defend a valuation and persuade investors
that you can scale the business,” (Bello Perez, 2016) she added.
In 2018, Darktrace opened its headquarters in Cambridge, UK, increasing its team to more
than 700 employees to accommodate the expansion of its global sales footprint and
customer base of over 1,660 across 33 offices globally. Subsequently, in 2018, Darktrace
attained unicorn [18] status with a valuation of US$1.25bn. Darktrace raised US $50m in a
Series E funding in September 2018 led by Vitruvian Partners [19](see Exhibit 1).
In 2019, Darktrace launched the Cyber AI Analyst that offered fully automated threat
investigation at machine speed, addressing the shortage of cyber security professionals
needed to meet cyber threats. The same year, Darktrace introduced Antigena e-mail, the
world’s first self-learning AI e-mail security solution. According to observers, Gustafsson
played a vital role in product innovation at Darktrace that were vital in protecting critical
national assets such as parts of the NHS and major government departments (see Exhibit 2).
In June 2019, the market valuation of Darktrace reached US$1.65bn. It had 900 employees
working in 40 offices spread across five continents. By the end of 2019, Darktrace was ranked
12th in Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 with a four-year growth rate of 2,446% [20]. Over 4,000
organizations in more than 100 countries used Darktrace’s cybersecurity software. Darktrace
provided services to clients across a variety of industry verticals such as financial services,
manufacturing and supply, energy and utilities, government and defense, health care and
pharma, education, legal and HR, transportation, retail and e-commerce, media and
entertainment, technology and telecom and nonprofit (see Exhibit 3). Darktrace’s customers
included high profile organizations such as Rolls-Royce, the NHS, AIG, BT Group Plc, The
Coca-Cola Company and Jimmy Choo Plc., to name a few. Even the Vatican Library used
Darktrace’s AI to protect it from cyberattacks.
With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gustafsson worked through a business
continuity plan, closely monitored the situation in each country in which Darktrace operated
and ensured there was no disruption in services. The main threat amid the pandemic came
from malicious and phishing e-mails to employees called “fearware” as they worked
remotely. Reportedly, there was a 400% increase in the demand for cybersecurity by the
end of April 2020. Darktrace defended the threats by offering services to its clients such as
Ask the Expert, 24/7 Proactive Threat Notification, regular threat intelligence reports and
customer support tickets. According to Steve Morgan (he), Founder and Editor-in-Chief at
Cybersecurity Ventures, “Darktrace was an early mover in the AI space for cybersecurity.
They delivered a robust solution early on and they were able to get a LOT of deployments.
With that, they’ve built up a lot of expertise and an excellent reputation (which they deserve)
[. . .]. Darktrace’s ability to execute in the market — either as a standalone company or as
part of a larger company – is substantially greater than the other independents in their field”
(Clifford, 2018).
Amid the pandemic, the company witnessed a strong demand for Version 5 of Darktrace
Immune System, released in February 2021, as customers tackled security challenges
related to remote working. Darktrace Version 5 included upgrades to a range of Darktrace
products including Antigena e-mail, Antigena SaaS, Client Sensors, EIS and Industrial
2022 j THE CASE FOR WOMENj PAGE 5
Immune System. Reportedly, this was the first time Darktrace upgraded its broad product
portfolio, emphasizing the company’s commitment to protecting the entire digital domain of
its customers. According to John Wager (he), Head of Technology and People, at cycling
retailer Saddleback Ltd, “Darktrace is like having another person on the IT team, but it’s also
so much more than that. You could pay another person to sit there 24/7 and you still
wouldn’t get the same value, because humans just can’t react fast enough. That’s been
especially true of everything new in Version 5, whether that be the enhancements to Cyber
AI Analyst, or the release of autonomous response for cloud services and collaboration
tools” [21].
Results
Under Gustafsson’s leadership, Darktrace established itself within a brief span of time as a
global leader in providing AI-based cybersecurity services to corporate customers. With her
mathematical and data-driven mindset and extensive tech experience, Gustafsson
spearheaded the growth of Darktrace, which after just five years under her leadership, was
valued at US$1.65bn, said analysts. At Darktrace, Gustafsson was at the forefront of the
mega deals. She pitched its unique products to clients and investors and was a key person
in raising funds from high-profile investors. However, she attributed the success of
Darktrace to the company’s ability to challenge the status quo and the team of incredible AI
experts comprising around 40 PhD mathematicians. Under her leadership, the Group grew
to 1,500 employees with over 40 offices around the world as of 2020. “From the start we
challenged the idea that cyber security was about keeping the bad guys out, right through
to the fact that we’re talked about as an organisation that is led by two women. In our minds,
there’s no reason it wouldn’t be. This top-down decision does make it an anomaly amongst
tech companies and it impacts the company culture. As soon as you create a tech
organisation that is gender agnostic, people flourish respective whether they’re male or
female,” (Heathman, 2018) she said.
Gustafsson led the group to a variety of achievements, for which it received various
accolades. Darktrace was the winner of “AI Business of the Year” at Lloyd’s Bank National
Business Awards in 2019, “Security Innovation of the Year” at UK IT Industry Awards in
2020 and “Best AI/Machine Learning Provider” at Computing Technology Products Awards
in 2020. It was also named in “The Forbes Cloud 100 2020” and “FT 100 Europe’s fastest
Growing Companies 2020” lists. In April 2021, Darktrace was named as one of TIME
magazine’s “Most Influential Companies” 2021 for its role as a “pioneer” in using AI to tackle
cyber-threats. Darktrace won five accolades at the 2021 Cyber Defense Magazine Global
InfoSec Awards, presented in May 2021. The awards were Cyber Security Artificial
Intelligence (Market Leader); Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (Best Product);
email Security and Management (Best Product); Endpoint Security (Hot Company); and
Security Company of the Year (Market Leader). It was also named “Best Security Company”
at the 2021 SC Europe Awards. “Darktrace has all the hallmarks of a great UK-based tech
business, AI specifically is a strong area in British technology and with companies like
Darktrace we are increasingly leading the way globally,” (Gooding, 2021) said Stephen
Kelly (he), Chair of Tech Nation, a platform for tech companies and leaders.
Gustafsson also earned many honors. She was awarded an Order of the British Empire
(OBE) in 2019 in recognition of her services to cyber security along with Stockdale. She
bagged the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award in 2019 and was recognized in
Management Today’s “35 Women Under 35” list in 2018. She was named Vodafone’s
Woman of the Year for Technology and Innovation in the 2020 Women of the Year Awards
(see Exhibit 4). According to one of her colleagues, “Poppy inspires with a unique, new
model of leadership that couples a highly ambitious growth strategy with humility and
approachability” [22].
PAGE 6j THE CASE FOR WOMENj 2022
Darktrace’s revenue grew from US$79.4m in FY 2018 to US$199.1m in FY 2020 (see
Exhibit 5). For the six months ended December 31, 2020, Darktrace had US$612.3m of
remaining performance obligations, and its cyber AI had investigated over one million
security events per week. Reportedly, Darktrace customers increased by a compound
annual growth rate of 53% between the financial years ended June 30, 2018, and June 30,
2020. The Group’s global footprint continued to grow with over 4,700 customers in over 100
countries [23]. In the six months ended December 31, 2020, Darktrace generated 18.1%,
20.5%, 39.4% and 22.0% of its revenues from customers in the UK, Europe (excluding the
UK), the USA and Canada and the rest of the world, respectively. As of December 2020,
Darktrace was responsible for protecting over 4,700 organizations worldwide, including
more than 760 in the UK.
On April 30, 2021, Darktrace debuted on the London Stock Exchange and its shares surged
by 43% on the first day. The Darktrace IPO at £2.50 valued the company at £1.7bn
(US$2.4bn). Prior to the listing, the company stated that its revenue had surged to almost
US$200m during the pandemic, profiting from higher demand for its services due to the
shift to work from home (WFH) throughout the crisis. Commenting on Gustafsson’s
phenomenal success, Amelia Heathman (she), Junior Editorial Director at PR consultancy
Burlington Pr. said, “Her star has ascended in tandem with the company’s rise from
promising tech startup to rare British “unicorn” to list on the London stock market in the
coming months. While Gustafsson is likely to be worth at least £20 m from the flotation of the
business, which has almost 5,000 customers ranging from the NHS to Coca-Cola, she has
also become something of a gender diversity champion in the male-dominated tech world”
(Heathman, 2018).
Gender diversity champion
Critical to Darktrace’s success was its workforce, comprising 40% women against the
backdrop of an industry average of only half of that, as well as the leadership of an
executive team where women held many of the senior roles. Across its global operations,
40% of Darktrace’s workforce were women, a figure far above the industry average of 20%.
A core part of the company’s c-suite comprised females. While Gustafsson was the CEO,
Eagan was Chief Strategy Officer and AI Officer, Cathy Graham was the CFO and Orton,
who was also a Founding Member at Darktrace, was the Chief Marketing Officer. According
to Gustafsson, “We didn’t have any quotas or anything like that. We just hired the best
people. We’ve naturally ended up. That’s something that I feel quite proud of, myself, but
also all of our employees feel really, really proud of that, both female and male. A lot of them
are really proud to be part of an organization that champions talent regardless of
background, and it has become part of the culture here at Darktrace. Yeah, it’s a great
thing.”14
Gustafsson maintained a universal culture across all global offices of Darktrace with no set
rules. The culture at Darktrace was very much one of optimism, ambition and a very high
standard of excellence. She considered her company a meritocracy, wherein each person’s
performance and talent were used as the yardstick to hire, promote and reward, regardless
of sex, race, class or nationality. Everyone was encouraged to express their opinions freely.
The company promoted people who were best at the job, irrespective of how long they had
served at the company. Gustafsson cited an example of a young woman employee called
Eleanor, who was successful with the commercial team in London, but wanted to move
back to South Africa. Eleanor had asked if she would be able to go away and set up her
own part of Darktrace in South Africa. She was allowed to go and set up a successful
business there.
Gustafsson was a keen proponent of women pursuing STEM subjects. Reportedly women
represented just 22% of the STEM workforce in the UK as of 2018 [24] (see Exhibit 6). In
August 2018, Darktrace partnered with a UK-based social organization WISE [25], that
2022 j THE CASE FOR WOMENj PAGE 7
worked to promote and encourage more girls and women to pursue STEM subjects and
careers in technology. “Defying the status quo is the secret sauce of creating breakthrough
innovations. It takes a multitude of different skills and backgrounds to build a standout
AI-business – we need storytellers, linguists, ethicists, and accountants too. We are proud
sponsors of WISE and I am passionate about encouraging more women to break the mould
and pursue STEM subjects and careers in the wider technology sector” [26], she said.
As a member of WISE, Darktrace put gender diversity at the top of its agenda and was
committed to recruiting, retaining and developing female talent and increasing the number
of women in STEM roles. According to Helen Wollaston (she), CEO of WISE, “Darktrace is
not only challenging conventions with its innovative technology, but also via the number of
women it employs. By demonstrating the value that women bring to technical, engineering
and mathematical roles, Darktrace sets the bar for other technology companies. We are
thrilled to have Darktrace’s support, helping us to inspire girls and their parents in the
race to get more young women excited about a career in science, engineering and
technology” [27].
Challenges
The demand for cybersecurity solutions further went up during the COVID-19 pandemic
due to the rapid transition to WFH. The 2021 WEF Global Risk Report, named “cybersecurity
challenges” as the fourth most pressing non-environmental threat to the global economy
and mankind (see Exhibit 7). According to the report, 156 significant cyberattacks took
place in the USA between 2006 and 2020, while the UK had the second most at 47,
followed by India’s 23, Germany’s 21 and South Korea’s 18 attacks [28] (see Exhibit 8).
According to Darktrace, across its global customer base, it detected 52% more
ransomware attacks in the second half of 2020, compared to the first. With the growing
prevalence of cyberattacks, including attacks on cloud, SaaS and IoT infrastructure, insider
threats and ransomware and AI-powered attacks, the relevance of Darktrace’s machine
learning solutions would only continue to increase.
One of the biggest challenges for Gustafsson would be to develop and enhance
Darktrace’s cyber security platform to meet the changing cyber protection demands of its
customers and to adapt to the increasingly sophisticated nature of cyberattacks. Research
firm Cybersecurity Ventures projected that the cost of global cybercrime was expected to
grow 15% annually and reach US$10.5tn annually by 2025, up from US$3tn in 2015.
According to experts, keeping up with the demand for immune system technology on a
global scale was no easy task and Gustafsson’s company needed to constantly innovate to
keep the cyberattacks at bay. “It really feels like we’re in this new era of cybersecurity. The
arms race is absolutely going to continue, I really don’t think it’s going to be very long until
[AI] innovation falls into the hands of attackers, and we’ll see these very targeted and
specific attacks that humans won’t necessarily be able to spot and defend themselves. It
won’t be these futuristic Terminator-style bots shooting each other, it will be all these little
bits of code fighting in the background of our businesses. In my time here at Darktrace, I’ve
seen attackers try [to] use things like Teslas parked in the office parking lot, [internetconnected] aquariums in casinos and fingerprint scanners on warehouse doors, all as a
kind of new and new way of entering businesses” [29]Gustafsson noted.
Worldwide, cyber security spending would reach US$133.7bn by 2022, according to a
Gartner Inc. prediction. Cyberattacks were becoming increasingly sophisticated, forcing
organizations to invest heavily in developing strategies to prevent data breaches. One of
the biggest challenges for Gustafsson would be to quickly respond to the rapidly changing
needs of customers by developing or introducing new cybersecurity products and
continually monitoring Darktrace’s platform for new methods of cyberattack. However, the
design and development of new products, features and capabilities might require
substantial investment. In addition, any failure by the Group to anticipate and effectively
PAGE 8j THE CASE FOR WOMENj 2022
respond to changes in the cyber security market and develop new technologies could
adversely affect the company’s financial condition, operating results and prospects.
Moreover, cybersecurity was a crowded market with companies such as International
Business Machines Corporation (IBM), NortonLifeLock Inc, Cisco, McAfee, Chronicle,
Honeywell, Kaspersky and CyberX all competing in the space. “When Darktrace started out
it was very innovative, but I think the competition has closed the gap. Its system is
sophisticated and it has a compelling message, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult for
the company to differentiate based on that,” (Gooding, 2021) said Joel Stradling (he),
Research Director for European security at research and advisory firm IDC.
Another challenge Gustafsson faced was the skills shortage in cybersecurity. Reportedly,
the number of unfilled cyber security positions would grow to 3.5 million by 2021 [30]. The
proliferation of attacks and their increased complexity, the lack of interest from younger
generations in a cybersecurity career and high employee turnover due to burnout had led to
a material workforce gap in the sector including professionals such as cyber technologists,
analysts, developers and salespeople. Reportedly, on an average, cybersecurity roles took
21% longer to fill than other IT jobs. Though Darktrace sourced talent from graduate
programs in universities with a humanities and mathematics background, the real challenge
Gustafsson faced was imparting training to them as there was a huge skills deficit in
cybersecurity. Further, the increasing uncertainty driven by the pandemic had a ripple
effect on volunteering, internship and job opportunities for women in the STEM field,
observed analysts. Women constituted about 24% of the global cybersecurity workforce as of
2020. Commenting on the cybersecurity talent shortage, she said, “Here I am, trying to build a
global organization and bring in as much talented people as possible, and there’s just not
enough people to go around. We’ve had to grow those skills in-house. When you’re operating
in a market with not enough cybersecurity talent, we have to build our own talent. We have to
spot those people and bring them in and teach them the skills that they need to be able to do
their job. Whilst that’s not directly communications from myself, you can see that that has been
a big challenge that communication has been a part of, because how do we get these people
trained and enabled and able to talk about our business in the way that we want?”14
Going forward, Darktrace might face a potential liability in relation to possible money
laundering offences arising out of its historic funding by Invoke Capital. Lynch, one of
Darktrace’s major shareholders, was accused of fraudulently inflating the value of Autonomy
before its £8.4bn sale to Hewlett-Packard in 2011. In 2013, Invoke seed funded Darktrace
upon its foundation through a capital contribution of £10,000, in exchange for which Invoke
received ordinary shares. Invoke further funded the operations of Darktrace through to 2015
by way of noninterest-bearing unsecured loans totaling £6.6m. Between 2016 and 2017,
Darktrace completed a series of primary share issues to institutional investors, at which time
the Group repaid these loans and reduced Invoke’s shareholding. Following this, Lynch
stepped down from the Darktrace board but as of April 2021, Lynch, with his wife, still held
a 19% stake in Darktrace. Some analysts felt that Lynch’s fraudulent image might loom
large over Darktrace’s success and future prospects.
Profitability was also one of the biggest challenges for Gustafsson as Darktrace had
incurred losses each year since inception. Darktrace reported net losses of US$42.5m,
US$34.7m and US$28.7m for the financial years ended June 30, 2018, 2019 and 2020,
respectively. For the six months ended December 31, 2020, the Group posted net losses of
US$48.4m. As the company planned to expand into new markets, develop new products,
hire additional employees, invest in research and development and sales and marketing, its
costs of sales and operating expenses might increase at a faster rate than its revenue,
leading to further net losses. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic would continue to
adversely affect economies and financial markets globally, leading to a decline in
technology spending by businesses that could in turn adversely affect demand for the
Group’s Cyber AI Platform.
2022 j THE CASE FOR WOMENj PAGE 9
For the year ended June 30, 2021 Darktrace reported a 44% rise in annualized recurring
revenue to US$340m. Its customer base grew by 42% year-on-year to 5,600 customers.
The company expected to generate revenue of about US$278m in fiscal 2021, reflecting
year-over-year growth of at least 40% [31] Gustafsson had no intention of being complacent
following her company’s success and planned to carry out a highly active program of
market education and awareness to further meet growing customer demand. This included
regularly exhibiting and speaking at a wide range of tech and industry events and attending
trade missions around the region, supported by the UK’s Department for International
Trade. She was laser-focused on ensuring Darktrace had a legacy all its own.
In May 2021, Darktrace partnered with software giant Microsoft to provide enhanced
security across multi-platform and multi-cloud environments, automate threat investigations
and provide defense against sophisticated attacks, as organizations continued to transition
to the cloud. In fiscal 2021, Darktrace expected its revenue to grow 40% to US$278m
(£201m). As misinformation, cyberattacks and targeted strikes were on the rise, she could
play an important role in helping organizations build resilience against a continually
changing threat landscape. As Gustafsson led Darktrace into developing unique, innovative
solutions to empower organizations across all industry sectors achieve stronger
cybersecurity and stop cyber disruptions, Amber Rudd (he), former British Home Secretary
and Darktrace Advisory Board Member, asked, “How we can find the future Poppy
Gustafsson and more like her” (Sweney and Hern, 2021) in a male-dominated STEM.
Notes
1. COVID-19, declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020, is
caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. The pandemic caused severe
social and economic disruption, affecting travel, industries, academics, sports and cultural and
political events.
2. “Darktrace CEO Crowned Woman of the Year for Technology and Innovation,” www.darktrace.com,
November 11, 2020.
3. “Darktrace CEO, Poppy Gustafsson on Achieving #BalanceforBetter,” www.diversityq.com, March
25, 2019.
4. Mike Lynch is a software business tycoon in the UK who cofounded Autonomy Corporation LLC
and Invoke Capital. He invested in a number of start-ups, including Darktrace.
5. “Financial Cyber Threats in 2013. Part 2: Malware,” www.securelist.com, April 9, 2014.
6. Dave Palmer is the Chief Product Officer at Darktrace, overseeing the mathematics and
engineering teams and project strategies. He has worked across UK intelligence agencies such as
GCHQ and MI5, where he was responsible for delivering mission-critical infrastructure services.
7. Emily Orton, Chief Marketing Officer of Darktrace, is responsible for global marketing and
communications, a role she has held since the company’s inception in 2013.
8. Jack Stockdale joined the Group at founding, and is the Chief Technology Officer of Darktrace. He
is responsible for overseeing the development of Bayesian mathematical models and AI algorithms
that support the company’s technology.
9. Eagan shapes Darktrace’s strategic plan, leads the Company’s AI vision and provides product
strategy and direction. During her tenure as Co-CEO (2016-2020), Darktrace had won more than
100 awards. She was named “AI Leader of the Year” and was awarded the top position on The
Software Report’s ‘Top 25 Women Leaders in Cybersecurity’ in 2020.
10. GCHQ is an intelligence and security organization responsible for providing signals intelligence
and information assurance to the government and armed forces of the UK.
11. MI5 is the UK’s domestic counter-intelligence and security agency.
12. www.deloitte.co.uk/fast50/assets/pdf/deloitte-uk-fast50-2018.pdf
13. “Darktrace Raises Growth Equity from Summit Partners,” www.darktrace.com, July 12, 2015.
14. Brendon Craigie and Russell Goldsmith, “S02E01 – Poppy Gustafsson, Darktrace,” www.tytopr.com.
PAGE 10j THE CASE FOR WOMENj 2022
15. In May 2017, the WannaCry ransomware attack struck computers that ran Microsoft Windows around
the world. The initial infection is considered to have started in Asia and in just a day, over 230,000
devices across 150 countries were impacted. Spread by a pernicious e-mail attachment and
supercharged by a worm, the malware encrypted files, with cyber criminals demanding a ransom to
allow users to regain access to their data. The attack sieged organizations and companies such as
Renault, Nissan Motor Manufacturing, Deutsche Bahn, Spain’s Telefonica and NHS.
16. NHS is the publicly funded national health-care system in the UK.
17. “Darktrace Reports 600% Revenue Increase as Global Growth Continues,” www.darktrace.com,
July 26, 2016.
18. A unicorn is a privately held company with a valuation of US$1bn or more.
19. Vitruvian Partners is a European private equity firm based in London, UK.
20. “Darktrace Ranks 12th in the ‘Deloitte UK Fast 50’,” www.darktrace.com, November 8, 2019.
21. “Darktrace Experiences Surge in Demand Driven by WFH and Wave of Sophisticated CyberAttacks,” www.darktrace.com, February 2, 2021.
22. Tony Quested, “Darktrace’s gender diversity champion enters Woman Entrepreneurship Award,”
www.businessweekly.co.uk, November 8, 2018.
23. https://ir.darktrace.com/
24. “Women in STEM j Percentages of Women in STEM Statistics,” www.stemwomen.co.uk, January
22, 2021.
25. Founded in 1984, WISE is a Leeds-based nonprofit community interest enterprise. WISE enables
and encourages people in business, industry and education to increase the participation,
contribution and success of women in STEM.
26. www.wisecampaign.org.uk/members/darktrace/
27. “Darktrace Partners with WISE to Promote Girls in STEM,” www.darktrace.com, August 13, 2018.
28. WEF The Global Risks Report 2021.
29. Mark Sweney and Alex Hern, “Poppy Gustafsson: the Darktrace Tycoon in New Cybersecurity Era,”
www.theguardian.com, April 17, 2021.
30. “Cybersecurity Talent Crunch to Create 3.5 million Unfilled Jobs Globally By 2021,” https://
cybersecurityventures.com, October 14, 2019.
31. “Pre-Open Trading Update,” https://ir.darktrace.com, July 15, 2021.
References
Bassett, B. (2018), “A look back: who made our 2018 35 women under 35 list?”, 30 April, available at:
www.managementtoday.co.uk
Bello Perez, Y. (2016), “Darktrace CEO poppy Gustafsson on how to raise $104.5m and employing
curious minds”, available at: www.uktech.news (accessed 20 December 2016).
Brackley, P. (2017), “How darktrace is leading Cambridge fightback against global cyber threats”,
available at: www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk (accessed 18 March 2017).
Clifford, C. (2018), “How billion-dollar start-up darktrace is fighting cybercrime with A.I.”, available at:
www.cnbc.com (accessed 7 August 2018).
Crocker, E. (2020), “Founder spotlight: poppy Gustafsson, CEO and Co-Founder of darktrace”,
12 October, available at: www.medium.com
Gooding, M. (2021), “Does darktrace’s cybersecurity tech live up to the hype?”, 23 April available at:
https://techmonitor.ai
Heathman, A. (2018), “Darktrace’s CEO poppy Gustafsson on what it’s like leading one of the UK’s top AI
start-ups”, 13 August available at: www.standard.co.uk
Nicholls, J. (2014), “Is darktrace the future of cybersecurity?”, available at: www.techmonitor.ai,
(accessed 10 December 2014).
Sweney, M. and Hern, A. (2021), “Poppy Gustafsson: the darktrace tycoon in new cybersecurity era”,
17 April available at: www.theguardian.com
Vieira, H. (2017), “Nicole Eagan: ‘cybersecurity is very fast becoming an All-Out arms race’”, 13 May
available at: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk
2022 j THE CASE FOR WOMENj PAGE 11
Exhibit 1. Investor funding at Darktrace
Table E1
Year Funding series Money raised Investors
February 2015 Series A Approximately US$18m Invoke Capital, Talis Capital, Hoxton Ventures and private
individuals
July 2015 Series B Approximately US$39m Led by Summit Partners
July 2016 Series C Approximately US$34m Led by KKR DA
July 2017 Series D Approximately US$50m Led by Insight Venture Partners
September 2018 Series E funding Approximately UD$50m Led by Vitruvian Partners
July 2020 Approximately
US$163m
Issue of convertible loan notes to certain existing investors,
including KKR DA, Summit Partners, Talis Capital,
TenEleven Ventures, Hoxton Ventures and Balderton Capital
Source: https://sec.report/nsm/Darktrace-P-L-C/Portal/NI-000024950/NI-000024950
PAGE 12j THE CASE FOR WOMENj 2022
Exhibit 2. Darktrace products
Table E2
Product
name Overview Key benefits
EIS The EIS harnesses scalable, self-learning AI to understand the
digital DNA of an organization and illuminate unpredictable cyber
threats at an early stage. By learning the normal “patterns of life”
of every person and device in a business, the technology
discovers novel attacks and insider threats that others miss, while
delivering complete visibility across cloud and collaboration
tools, remote endpoints, IoT and the corporate network
Learns normal “on the job” to detect unknown and
unpredictable cyber-threats
Protects the dynamic workforce against zero-days,
ransomware and insider threats
Covers the full digital DNA of an organization across
cloud, endpoints, IoT and network
Interfaces with Cyber AI Analyst to trigger
autonomous investigations at scale
Interoperates with existing defenses via native, oneclick integrations
Industrial
Immune
System
Darktrace’s Industrial Immune System illuminates even the most
complex cyber-physical ecosystems, detecting novel threats and
vulnerabilities and safeguarding the integrity and resilience of
industrial technologies
Identifies new threats and vulnerabilities.
Continuously revises understanding of “normal” with
no tuning necessary
Illuminates entire digital infrastructure, gains
unparalleled visibility of OT, IT and industrial IoT
Works in any environment; protocol and operating
system agnostic
Advanced persistent threats. Catches stealthy,
sophisticated, never-before-seen threats
Industrial sabotage. Immediately identifies malicious
activity across OT, IT and industrial IoT
Attacks traversing IT and OT. Illuminates any point of
IT/OT convergence
Cyber AI
Analyst
Cyber AI Analyst is Darktrace’s AI investigation technology,
which automatically triages, interprets and reports on the full
scope of security incidents
Automates investigations at speed and scale. Mimics
analyst intuition and continually investigates 100% of
threats detected
Prioritizes the most relevant incidents. Surfaces and
summarizes every urgent incident as it emerges
Writes reports in the form of a digestible narrative
Investigates every threat from cloud to SaaS
services. Understands suspicious context around
trusted accounts
Zero-day malware and ransomware. Investigates
novel threats without relying on playbooks
Compromise of cyber-physical systems. Illuminates
cyber-threats targeting operational technology
It not only automates analyst workflows at speed and
scale but also preserves the inherent flexibility of
human expertise
Antigena
Network
Antigena Network is the world’s leading Autonomous Response
technology for the enterprise. Powered by self-learning Cyber AI,
Antigena Network instantly interrupts attacks across cloud
services, IoT and the corporate network with surgical precision,
even if the threat is novel or highly targeted
Neutralizes targeted, self-spreading attacks. Stops
emerging threats in seconds
Sustains normal operations during incidents and
takes normal actions by enforcing “normal”
Buys critical time for strained teams and helps teams
prioritize strategic tasks and mitigate risk
Machine-speed ransomware
Identifies insider data theft and contains the threat
Enacts a targeted response wherever the threat
emerges in Cloud, IoT or SaaS
Antigena
SaaS
Antigena SaaS is an Autonomous Response technology that
neutralizes unpredictable attacks in cloud and collaboration tools
Neutralizes attacks that others miss
Decisions are based on self-learning AI
Responds in seconds. Reacts faster than human
defenders and automated attacks
(continued)
2022 j THE CASE FOR WOMENj PAGE 13
Table E2
Product
name Overview Key benefits
Neutralizes admin abuse and insider data theft
Surgically interrupts account takeover and bruteforce attacks
Stops accidental data loss, manipulation or
destruction
Antigena
Email
Antigena Email uses Darktrace’s core AI to stop the most
advanced e-mail threats, intervening to protect employees from
the full range of threats targeting the inbox
Learns the unique “pattern of life” for every e-mail
user to identify anomalies
Stops advanced spear phishing and digital fakes. It
protects the workforce from e-mail impersonation
attacks
Installs in 5 min, cloud-delivered, effective within
hours
Microsoft 365 SaaS connector identifies anomalous
logins and account behavior
Recognizes visually similar domains and solicitation
attempts
Note: DNA = Deoxyribonucleic acid
Source: www.darktrace.com
PAGE 14j THE CASE FOR WOMENj 2022
Exhibit 3. Key customers of Darktrace
Table E3
Industry verticals Clients

Note: The list is not exhaustive
Source: www.darktrace.com
2022 j THE CASE FOR WOMENj PAGE 15
Exhibit 4. Poppy Gustafsson: Awards and recognitions
Table E4
S. No. Name of the award Year
1. Enterprise CXO Leader of the Year 2020
(Best Innovation in Data Protection and Privacy in Cyber AI Analyst)
2020
2. Vodafone’s Woman of the Year Innovation Award 2020 2020
3. Inspiring Woman in Business Award 2020
(Entrepreneur of the Year – Cyber Security)
2020
4. Financial Times Intelligent Business 2019 Award Winner
(Shortlisted – Ten Market Shapers)
2019
5. Tech Business Woman of the year Award 2019 2019
6. Veuve Clicquot New Generation Business Woman Award 2019 2019
7. Businesswoman of the Year from the UK Tech Awards 2019 2019
8. Artificial Intelligence Award at the 2019 Lloyds Bank Business Award 2019
9. Officer of the Order of the British Empire 2019 Award 2019
10. Management Today’s “30 Women under 35” list in 2018 2018
11. ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ award for 2017 by City A.M 2017
Note: The list is not exhaustive
Source: www.darktrace.com
PAGE 16j THE CASE FOR WOMENj 2022
Exhibit 5. Consolidated statement for comprehensive income (in ‘000 s of US$)
Table E5
Particulars
Six months ended
31 December (unaudited) Financial year ended 30 June
31.12.2020 31.12.2019 30.6.2020 30.6.2019 30.6.2018
Revenue 126,514 91,076 199,076 137,017 79,415
Cost of sales (12,399) (7,010) (17,477) (12,252) (8,225)
Gross profit 114,115 84,066 181,599 124,765 71,190
Sales and marketing costs (86,738) (86,338) (163,052) (130,532) (91,117)
Administrative expenses
Research and development costs (10,657) (5,574) (12,030) (9,715) (7,512)
Other administrative expenses (21,500) (13,954) (26,887) (20,247) (12,587)
Credit loss charge (423) (103) (5,344) (1,326) (587)
Other operating income 322 424 811 850 –
Operating loss (4,881) (21,479) (24,903) (36,205) (40,613)
Finance costs (43,044) (1,164) (2,405) (2,224) (1,262)
Finance income 59 453 382 937 250
Loss before taxation (47,866) (22,190) (26,926) (37,492) (41,625)
Taxation (545) (580) (1,746) 2,800 (869)
Net loss (48,411) (22,770) (28,672) (34,692) (42,494)
Other comprehensive (loss)/income
Items that are or may be reclassified
subsequently to profit or loss:
Foreign exchange difference arising
on presentational currency change
– – – (1,708) 1,315
Total comprehensive loss (48,411) (22,770) (28,672) (36,400) (42,179)
Earnings per share
Basic (loss)/earnings per share $(24.69) $(11.10) $(13.49) $(16.89) $(19.32)
Diluted (loss)/earnings per share $(24.69) $(11.10) $(13.49) $(16.89) $(19.32)
Source: www.darktrace.com
2022 j THE CASE FOR WOMENj PAGE 17
Exhibit 6. Women in STEM workforce in the UK
Figure E1
Source: www.stemwomen.co.uk
21% 23% 22% 24%
79% 77% 78% 76%
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
2016 2017 2018 2019
Women Men
PAGE 18j THE CASE FOR WOMENj 2022
Exhibit 7. Top global risks by likelihood
Table E6
Year Ranking Types of risks
2021 1 Extreme weather
2 Climate action failure
3 Human environmental damage
4 Infectious diseases
5 Biodiversity loss
2020 1 Extreme weather
2 Climate action failure
3 Natural disasters
4 Biodiversity loss
5 Human-made environmental disasters
2019 1 Extreme weather
2 Climate action failure
3 Natural resources
4 Data fraud or theft
5 Cyberattacks
2018 1 Extreme weather
2 Natural disasters
3 Cyberattacks
4 Data fraud or theft
5 Climate action failure
2017 1 Extreme weather
2 Involuntary migration
3 Natural disasters
4 Terrorist attacks
5 Data fraud or theft
2016 1 Involuntary migration
2 Extreme weather
3 Climate action failure
4 Interstate conflict
5 Natural catastrophes
2015 1 Interstate conflict
2 Extreme weather
3 Failure of national governance
4 State collapse or crisis
5 Unemployment
2014 1 Income disparity
2 Extreme weather
3 Unemployment
4 Climate action failure
5 Cyberattacks
2013 1 Income disparity
2 Fiscal imbalances
3 Greenhouse gas emissions
4 Water crises
5 Population ageing
2012 1 Income disparity
2 Fiscal imbalances
3 Greenhouse gas emissions
4 Cyberattacks
5 Water crises
Source: Adapted from Global Risks Report 2021, 16th Edition, www.wef.ch/risks2021
2022 j THE CASE FOR WOMENj PAGE 19
Exhibit 8. Significant cyberattacks per country 20062020 (total number)
Corresponding author
Syeda Maseeha Qumer can be contacted at: [email protected]
Figure E2
987665
11
11
12
13
15
15
15
16
16
18
21
23
47
156
0 50 100 150 200
North Korea
Viet Nam
Turkey
Hong Kong SAR
Russia
Pakistan
France
Israel
Canada
Japan
Australia
Ukraine
China
Iran
Saudi Arabia
South Korea
Germany
India
United Kingdom
United States
Notes: *Significant cyberattacks implies any cyberattacks
on a country’s government agencies, defense and hi-tech
companies or economic crimes equating to a loss of more
than a million dollars
Source: https://specopssoft.com/blog/countriesexperiencing-significant-cyber-attacks/
PAGE 20j THE CASE FOR WOMENj 2022