WICCON Diaries #2

A testimonial from Marina BOCHENKOVA (WICCON Speaker)

by Brigitte Heijkoop

“Not every talk starts as a neatly thought-out plan. ”

Sometimes it simply starts as a frustration, an observation, or a topic that makes you think: we really need to talk about this. That is valuable too, and especially on a stage like WICCON’s.

Marina knows that better than most. She has been living in Amsterdam for about eight years and works in digital forensics and incident response at Z-CERT. Before that, she gained experience in various types of cybersecurity and ICT areas.

That combination of technical depth and broader security issues is something you can also see in the way she looks at topics: sharp, practical, and not afraid to point out where things go wrong. Besides her professional work, she is one of the organizers of BSides Amsterdam and actively works to support women in achieving their speaking ambitions.

“It was a rant with slides.”

At WICCON, Marina did not exactly give a traditional talk.

Her story focused on legacy technologies and how they can still be a major obstacle to security. Not only because the technology itself is outdated, but also because organisations have become so dependent on it that they can hardly remove it without breaking all kinds of things.

And that is exactly what makes it interesting: sometimes the problem is not just the technology itself, but also the way organisations have built their daily work around it.

For Marina, speaking at WICCON was above all just a lot of fun. She describes the atmosphere as “cool,” which fit her energy perfectly. She loves Halloween, so even though it was technically still a day early, she still showed up in costume. That kind of detail made the event extra fun for her. It immediately put you in the right mood, without ever feeling dull or standard.

“The big stage also worked in my favour.”

Marina describes herself as fairly fidgety, so having that space actually helped. And it made it even more enjoyable that she could clearly see friends and colleagues in the audience. She is also very positive about WICCON’s organisation and communication, which she says were handled really well.

Why would she recommend that other women speak at WICCON?

Marina has a strong opinion about that. Cybersecurity is still a male-dominated field, and in her view it is long overdue for women to take up more space and make themselves heard more often. Not because that space is simply handed to you, but because change often only happens when you step forward yourself.

As she sees it, there are so many smart women whose knowledge and ideas are still not visible enough. And that is a shame. Not just for them personally, but for the field as a whole.

“Too many valuable insights are simply lost if more women do not make their voices heard.”

For Marina herself, speaking is less about visibility in the sense of overcoming fear. By her own account, she does not really feel ashamed or scared on stage. What matters more to her is continuing to learn from feedback: how do you make a talk even clearer, more interesting, or more useful for others? That is where the real growth is for her.

What also plays into that is the way she thinks about making mistakes. She shared that her mother once told her about a tribe that does not have a word for “failure”. That idea has stayed with her ever since. Since then, she no longer really sees failure as a thing in itself. If something does not go the way you hoped, then that is simply part of the process.

“The only real failure is not trying at all.”

That ties in directly with the advice she would give to anyone submitting a CFP: do not wait until something is finished, feels perfect, or until you think you are “qualified enough”. Start earlier.

For Marina, the process is very practical: when she has a new idea for a talk, she writes the abstract first. Only once it gets accepted does she really start building the talk itself. Precisely because then there is trust, and a deadline.

“If I waited until everything was fully finished or perfect before submitting, I would never end up on stage.”

She also recognises the doubt many people have: am I really enough of an expert for this? What gives me the right to speak about it? But according to her, you do not need to be an expert to bring something valuable.

Her own talks often include not just a technical part, but also a part based on experience and perspective. And that combination can be valuable to others too, even if nobody has approached the subject in exactly that way before.

That people really did get something out of it became clear from the feedback she received. Her talk helped others, and that once again confirmed for her that value can sometimes come from unexpected places.

We also asked Marina to describe WICCON in three words, and she did not need much time to think about it.

“Funky, inclusive, and supportive.”

Not just because the event centers women on stage, but also because there is attention for accessibility, neurodiversity, and space for different people and perspectives.

Maybe that is exactly what makes WICCON such a strong place for so many speakers: it is substantive, outspoken, and technical, while at the same time being a place where you can show up as yourself without waiting until everything feels perfect first.

Are you reading this and thinking: maybe I should just submit a CFP too?

Then Marina would probably say: “Go for it!.”

Not later, not when everything is done, and not only once you feel expert enough. Sometimes a good talk simply starts with an idea that is not perfect yet but is still worth sharing.