Solange Ghernaouti
A cybersecurity expert and professor whose career helped establish cybersecurity research and public debate around cyberpower, cybercrime, and digital sovereignty.
Solange Ghernaouti is a cybersecurity expert whose work connects computer science, cybercrime, cyberdefence, digital sovereignty, and public policy. She has been a professor at the University of Lausanne and is associated with the Swiss Cybersecurity Advisory and Research Group.
Her story fits this project because cybersecurity is not only about technical defense. It is also about society, law, power, institutions, and the question of who controls digital infrastructures.
Early path
Ghernaouti completed a doctorate in computer science and telecommunications and built a career at a time when cybersecurity was not yet as publicly visible as it is today. She became the first woman professor at HEC Lausanne, an important institutional milestone.
Her path shows how a technical career can also become a public and political one. Cybersecurity experts often need to translate complex risks for governments, organizations, and citizens.
Cybersecurity as a public issue
Ghernaouti’s work addresses cybercrime, cyberpower, digital sovereignty, and the management of information security risks. These topics matter because digital systems now structure economies, communication, health, education, and national security.
By working across technical and institutional contexts, she helped make cybersecurity visible as more than a specialized IT problem.
Communication and responsibility
Ghernaouti has also been active in public communication through writing, talks, and expert commentary. Her statement, “I am a scientist who wants to understand and to share,” is a useful summary of her role as both researcher and communicator.
This aspect is important for students who may be interested in IT but also care about politics, ethics, law, or society.
What readers should take away
Solange Ghernaouti’s story shows that cybersecurity careers can connect deep technical knowledge with public responsibility. Digital security is not only about protecting machines; it is about protecting people, rights, institutions, and trust.
For students, her path is a reminder that communication and critical thinking are central parts of technology work. Understanding a system is only one step; helping others understand its risks can be just as important.