Vandana Verma — Support each other

Building a stronger security community means helping more kinds of people participate and succeed. Vandana Verma returns to discuss her early work on the OWASP board, her ideas for improving outreach, and the broader meaning of diversity in application security. Chris asks about neurodiversity, inclusion, hiring standards, and how managers can find capable candidates beyond familiar networks. Vandana explains why support and training matter alongside opportunity, and why a skills shortage cannot be solved simply by moving experienced people between companies. She also shares the story of InfoSecGirls and discusses Women in AppSec. Her message is practical and personal: actively welcome people, help them develop their strengths, and support each other as the community grows.

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Connect with Vandana Verma:
→ Vandana Verma’s website
→ Vandana Verma on LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode:
→ InfoSecGirls
→ OWASP Foundation

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Chapters:
00:00 Supporting the application security community
02:58 Vandana’s early experience on the OWASP board
04:25 Priorities for community outreach
07:01 Understanding the many forms of diversity
08:07 Neurodiversity and inclusion
09:11 Making diversity a shared effort
11:48 Hiring standards and developing potential
13:24 How diverse teams strengthen security
17:34 Advice for hiring managers
19:39 Reaching people beyond familiar networks
21:46 The story and growth of InfoSecGirls
24:41 Women in AppSec
27:14 Support each other