2026-04-25 –, Auditorium
Silence kills security. This session explores how confidence gaps, gatekeeping, and “expert culture” stops practitioners and wider teams from asking questions, challenging assumptions, or escalating concerns early.
This session explores how imposter syndrome and hierarchy shape behaviour in security teams and wider organisations, especially during moments where early escalation matters most. From incident response calls to design reviews and risk sign-off meetings, we’ll look at how silence becomes normalised, how authority distorts decision-making, and why the industry’s obsession with expertise can actively undermine security outcomes.
Rather than framing this as a confidence or well-being issue, this talk treats silence as what it really is: an operational vulnerability.
Illyana Mullins is a neurodiverse leader, community builder, and the founder of the Women in Tech and Cyber Hub (WiTCH), a not-for-profit supporting women to enter, stay, and progress in cybersecurity and technology. She works on the human side of cyber from events and community to working closely with practitioners, leaders, and organisations to address the cultural and behavioural risks that tools alone cannot fix.