In our continuing program this month to celebrate women in cybersecurity, I wanted to tell you about an amazing group of women who have put a new twist on threat hunting.

If you follow ThreatQuotient then you know the rhino is our mascot. You probably also know that we love rhinos so much we adopted a baby rhino who was rescued from poachers and is now thriving in a rhino orphanage in South Africa. We are also an official supporter of an organization called Helping Rhinos, through which we have adopted a second baby rhino. 

Helping Rhinos has a truly innovative and forward-thinking approach to conservation and ensuring the long-term survival of rhinos in their natural habitat. One aspect we thought particularly timely to tell you about this month is a volunteer group within their organization called the Black Mambas – an all women anti-poaching group. 

These 36 African women patrol 50,000 hectares of the Balule Nature Reserve, part of the Great Kruger National Park which is home to the largest population of rhino in the world. Sadly, this also makes the Park one of the world’s largest targets for poaching attacks, with up to 11 different poaching gangs at any one time operating in the area! Every day the Black Mambas walk 20 kilometers, checking perimeter fences for signs of intrusion and alerting armed patrol units if they detect suspicious activity. Does this sound familiar to all you cyber threat hunters out there? Like finding indicators that might reveal an adversary staying below the radar? And tapping into additional services and tools to help you further investigate and take action?

The other important aspect of their job is working in the local community – where gangs actively recruit their next generation of poachers. Through weekly classes on conservation and trips to the Reserve, the women educate young people on the far greater benefits to their community of rhino conversation over poaching. Their un-armed patrols and programs to raise awareness for the impact of conservation on quality of life (for humans and rhinos) have been so successful that they’ve reduced poaching in the area by 63%!   

Click here to learn how you can help these threat hunters on the front lines who are dedicated to making the world a safer and better place for all.