Behind the firewall: The hidden struggles of cyber professionals with a disability

Daisy Wong

Daisy WongWhen Daisy Wong, head of security awareness at Medibank, first entered cybersecurity, she didn’t expect to become an advocate for inclusion, she just wanted to prove that being in a wheelchair was no barrier to what she could achieve. “I never wanted to be in cybersecurity. I did marketing at uni,” she says. “I always say this all the time, and that is I should’ve been at L’Oréal selling lipstick. Look at me!”Her confidence, though, didn’t come easy. “My physical disability impacted my confidence and my belief that I could do anything “¦ but I’ve been very lucky that I’ve been self-motivated and only knew one thing, and that was, I wanted to be useful to society, and I wanted to do something with myself.”Wong’s early career was shaped by determination and unfairness in equal measure. After working as a project coordinator at IBM and later in penetration testing for a bank, she endured two redundancies by age 30, one of which she described as particularly painful.”I was actually told that my role was a ‘nice to have’,” she says. “As a person with a physical disability, I don’t expect special treatment. A little bit of understanding, a bit of flexibility isn’t going to kill you. What I mean is giving me an extra five or 10 minutes to get some place.”When her role was made redundant, she was given a month to find another position within the organization, while a male colleague, a friend of the manager, was given three. “I said to them, I never want to use my disability as an excuse or reason, but is there any way you can give me more lenience?”The bias, however, was obvious during job interviews, too. She recalls how one time a hiring manager was more concerned about her physical ability than her relevant experience for the role. “The manager was more concerned about whether I could make a cup of tea and get back to my desk, than if I could my job. This hiring manager barely asked a single question about my experience. It was all about physical ability to get around.”However, these experiences only strengthened her resolve. “I realized I needed a personal brand “¦ I realized that I needed more than experience for people to take me seriously.”That brand, built through mentorship, advocacy, and relentless professionalism, eventually led to leadership roles in government and to her current her role at Medibank. Today, Wong leads cybersecurity culture initiatives and champions greater awareness of accessibility. Her message to both leaders and peers is simple: “It’s important organizations ask and not make assumptions. But asking goes both ways. The person with a disability, whether it’s physical or hidden, also needs to learn to ask for what they need.”She’s also quick to point out that accessibility benefits everyone. “Accessibility isn’t just about wheelchairs. What if you have a pram? What if you break your leg? It’s about being mindful and considerate.”Her advice to cybersecurity leaders echoes a broader truth about what’s needed in any workplace culture. “Be mindful and considerate. Yes, if you have a cyber incident it could impact people’s livelihood directly, but can we tone it back a little bit?” she says. “On a daily basis, that email you wanted 20 minutes ago, and I sent it at the 27 minutes mark, no one will die. Why can we not give everyone a little bit of grace? I think that’s what we’re lacking. It’s just about normalizing prams, normalizing mothers who have to breastfeed, normalizing Daisy is in a wheelchair, and not singling me or anyone out.”

Find empathy in a competitive field: Wong’s call for flexibility and empathy resonates with Jacob Griffiths, most recently a cyber risk solutions analyst at Procare Cyber, who’s experienced firsthand how relentless the pressure of the industry can be.

srcset=”https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Jacob-Griffiths-portrait-16×9-1.jpg?quality=50&strip=all 3200w, b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Jacob-Griffiths-portrait-16×9-1.jpg?resize=300%2C168&quality=50&strip=all 300w, b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Jacob-Griffiths-portrait-16×9-1.jpg?resize=768%2C432&quality=50&strip=all 768w, b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Jacob-Griffiths-portrait-16×9-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C576&quality=50&strip=all 1024w, b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Jacob-Griffiths-portrait-16×9-1.jpg?resize=1536%2C864&quality=50&strip=all 1536w, b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Jacob-Griffiths-portrait-16×9-1.jpg?resize=2048%2C1152&quality=50&strip=all 2048w, b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Jacob-Griffiths-portrait-16×9-1.jpg?resize=1240%2C697&quality=50&strip=all 1240w, b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Jacob-Griffiths-portrait-16×9-1.jpg?resize=150%2C84&quality=50&strip=all 150w, b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Jacob-Griffiths-portrait-16×9-1.jpg?resize=854%2C480&quality=50&strip=all 854w, b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Jacob-Griffiths-portrait-16×9-1.jpg?resize=640%2C360&quality=50&strip=all 640w, b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Jacob-Griffiths-portrait-16×9-1.jpg?resize=444%2C250&quality=50&strip=all 444w” width=”1024″ height=”576″ sizes=”auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>