The cybersecurity skills shortage remains a controversial topic. Research from ISC2 states that the current global workforce of cybersecurity professionals stands at 5.5 million, but the workforce currently needs 10.2 million — a gap of 4.8 million people.
Skeptics (and there are lots of them) say hogwash! They claim that these numbers are purely self-serving for ISC2, an organization that sells cybersecurity certifications. They also point to the eternal disconnect between security managers and HR/recruiters.
If only HR managers and industry recruiters truly understood cybersecurity job requirements and posted appropriate job listings, they could easily fill open requisitions. Finally, doubters point to cybersecurity layoffs at companies like Yahoo! and the current wave of cybersecurity budget cuts. How can these things happen if everyone is understaffed?
As for me, I’m not sure how ISC2 derived its numbers, but according to new research from the ISSA and my former employer ESG, 63% of cybersecurity professionals say that their organization has been impacted by the global cybersecurity skills shortage, leading to increasing workloads, an inability to optimize existing security technologies, and staff burnout. Oh, and by the way, cybersecurity professionals have been saying these things for many years.
Where are cyber staffing shortages the most acute?
As part of the research, we also asked organizations about their ability to recruit and hire cybersecurity professionals. The data indicated that onboarding remained a challenge: 11% reported it was extremely difficult to recruit and hire cybersecurity professionals, 30% claimed it was difficult, and 43% admitted it was somewhat difficult.
Whatever you might believe, the numbers keep showing us that there’s some type of chronic cybersecurity skills shortage in play. Where is it hitting organizations the hardest? Three of the top four areas included cloud computing security (33%), application security (33%), and security operations (24%).
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