TryHackMe races to add women to Christmas cyber challenge roster after backlash

Cybersecurity training provider TryHackMe is scrambling to recruit women infosec pros to help with its Christmas challenge following backlash concerning a lack of gender diversity.

In announcing its annual Advent of Cyber event, which offers 24 days of free beginner-level cyber training tasks throughout December, TryHackMe confirmed an 18-strong list of industry professionals and influencers enlisted to offer assistance to students completing the challenges.

None of these 18 figures were women, however, and the company said it is now working with Eva Benn, principal security program manager at Microsoft Security and Response Center, to recruit women to Advent of Cyber's (AoC) helper list before it kicks off next week. Benn is now one of the event's registered helpers, with others being finalized today.

The training provider told The Register that the omission of women's representation was not intentional, and not through a lack of trying.

"We in ...