Understand the demand for cybersecurity pros
In a recent post, I noted that diverse skills and backgrounds are required for cybersecurity roles in a future-ready enterprise. And I promised to peel back the onion on the human characteristics that lead to success in these roles, plus explore what we look for across Dell Security. Those posts are forthcoming, but first it’s important to explore what is driving the demand for a new breed of cybersecurity professional.
First, there is a widening of security concerns across industries. Not long ago, top IT security experts worked mostly at big banks and government agencies. But today, everything from small retailers to hospitals to regional school systems need to fill dedicated cybersecurity positions with top-notch talent.
Equally important is the increasingly tumultuous landscape of cybersecurity threats. We know that the convergence of cyber and physical security is creating new vulnerabilities. And the growth of mobility, cloud and big data are blurring the network perimeter and rendering many traditional security approaches ineffective. Meanwhile, mature, well-funded and ingenious adversaries are increasing the volume, velocity and sophistication of threats.
In order to better protect themselves, organizations are broadening the portfolio of skills and approaches they use to combat the epidemic. They are emphasizing risk assessment, threat mitigation, and predictive analytics along with more traditional security techniques like intrusion detection. And that’s a good thing, because the reactive security approaches of yesterday no longer cut it.
Together, these trends have created an extreme shortage of well-trained cybersecurity talent. Demand for cybersecurity professionals over the past five years grew 3.5 times faster than demand for other IT jobs and about 12 times faster than for all other jobs, according to one recent report.
The shortage is a boon to aspiring cyber professionals and a critical challenge to organizations of all sizes. Read here for ways that companies and candidates can position themselves for success in today’s hot cybersecurity job market.
What’s the most unlikely resume you’ve seen for a cybersecurity professional?
Love the article! Anybody who goes for the job should ask this last question. Just for fun, I guess to be the most unlikely person :-) Great to work for Dell!
Hello Tim My name is Ali Alizadeh from Afghanistan and I born in Mashhad, Iran but I live in Espoo, Finland and my citizenship is Finnish, I have Cerebral palsy (CP) physically disabled person. I have an ideas but because of my condition it is difficult for me to take them further and I would need someone to develop them with me. http://www.slideshare.net/helkyo/fassment-project I am looking for some grants and funding for my big innovation project ideas for fulfilling and developing in the first level of Finnish government, South Korean government, Nordic countries and others countries.
Renting a qualified CISO or a mentor to groom someone inside the organization is usually a cost effective and lasting solution.
Tim, great post on talent shortage. To address this concern, the latest trend has been renting a CISO - https://powermore.dell.com/business/buy-time-meet-urgent-security-needs-with-temporary-ciso/ It's rare and difficult to find a security professional who is agile and is a curious thinker. Perhaps the best resume I have seen is that of a past philosophy student who now studies technical side of information security.
Cool read