A campaign aimed at encouraging people to pursue a career in cybersecurity through advertising has been heavily criticized and removed just hours after launch in the United Kingdom.
Specifically, a poster showing a woman named "Fatima" dressed as a ballerina with the slogan "Fatima's next job could be in cybersecurity - she just doesn't know it yet" was criticized after it was announced that the UK was encouraging those involved in the performing arts to pursue careers in other fields.
The ad in question initially appeared to be the work of DCMS and Cyber First in the UK. DCMS Secretary of State Oliver Dowden denied his alleged involvement in the campaign, claiming it was not the work of the Department for Digital Governance, Culture, Media and Sport, and calling it “bad”.
Furthermore, Dowden explained that the ad came from a “partner campaign encouraging people from all walks of life to consider a career in cybersecurity.” However, the idea for the campaign was attributed to company “QA,” while an NCSC spokesperson confirmed that the campaign was created by DCMS using the course , which is aimed at children and students, but would now be aimed at adults through this campaign.
It was also revealed that the photo of “Fatima” was taken by an American photographer based in Atlanta, Georgia. This was apparently part of a series of articles that are set to be released. However, a spokesperson for UKMinister Boris Johnsonsaid that this particular content was inappropriate and has already been removed from the campaign.
In an email to Infosecurity, Javvad Malik, security awareness advocate at KnowBe4, said the following: “In any career you want to guide people into by motivating them to want to choose it, only when people enjoy, are interested in, or have a passion for a job do they truly feel a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction . ”
