Facing the Global Cybersecurity Skills Shortage
How do you beef up cybersecurity if you can’t find qualified personnel to take on the task? This is the question many organizations are asking the world over as a result of a global shortage of cybersecurity skills.
The cybersecurity industry is facing a devastating shortage of skilled, trained specialists and companies are suffering the consequences. At a time when knowledgeable security employees are needed more than ever, employers are finding them harder and harder to hire.
This skill gap is especially important as increasing regulations (see: heavyweights GDPR and NIS Directive) require more attention to cybersecurity in general leading organizations to implement new security processes and tools, and respond to stipulations which often specifically require hiring certain IT security roles.
Global Cybersecurity Skills Shortage
Multiple studies have shown that the cybersecurity skills shortage is a very real phenomenon plaguing companies worldwide. In fact, recent research even shows that the skills gap is worsening, as 51% of businesses say they have a problematic shortage of cybersecurity skills in 2018, up from 23% in 2014.
- 70% of cybersecurity professionals say their organizations are suffering the impact of the skills shortage
- In a similar vein, 20% of companies say the cybersecurity skills gap was a contributing factor in their past security incidents
- For those fortunate enough to have cybersecurity staff, 22% say their team is not large enough for the size of their organization, and 18% feel the team cannot keep up with the workload
- Meanwhile, 50% of IT security professionals are solicited with job opportunities weekly, meaning even organizations that have security personnel are threatened by the skill shortage.
The cybersecurity skills gap is getting wider, just as businesses realize their security needs, attempt to meet new regulatory standards, and cybersecurity threats increase
Narrowing the Skills Gap
How can organizations deal with the cybersecurity skills shortage?
- Refer to the NICE: Developed by NIST, the NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework standardizes terminology and descriptions of cybersecurity work and roles to help organizations and professionals better connect
- Support professional development: Stop searching for the impossible hire that understands every aspect of cybersecurity, your industry, and finance to boot. Find strong IT security specialists and support training to ensure they stay at the forefront of their field.
- Select security tools which facilitate simple and robust cybersecurity
With a lack of available staff to monitor security and prepare against cyber attacks, organizations aren’t seeing gaps in their data security, and the cybersecurity professionals on hand are often overloaded. This means that many find themselves a step behind malicious actors and are fighting fires rather than taking proactive steps to prevent future attacks or data breaches.
Many find themselves a step behind malicious actors and are fighting fires rather than taking proactive steps to prevent data breaches.
It’s becoming harder to prevent (or respond and recover from) cybersecurity incidents just as the frequency and intensity of breaches is also increasing. What’s a company to do?
Cybersecurity Simplified with PAM
How can privileged access management ease the stress of the cybersecurity skills gap?
Where resources are limited, a technical solution which is simple, yet comprehensive, can mean the difference between exposing entire critical systems to risk, or securing all data completely. As Forbes writes, “the security of a modern organization is akin to securing an entire city. You’ll need the equivalent of a police force, private security, SWAT team, managers, architects, locks, gates, cameras, sensors, rules and regulations, inspectors, assessments — and much more.”
A PAM solution can perform the duties of many of those roles, consolidating your access management security into one, central administration point. PAM consists of three main components – an access manager, a session manager, and a password manager – which work together to deliver complete access and data security.
Privileged Access Management allows all privileged users to connect only to those systems and data to which they require access, no more, no less. Access permissions can easily be given or revoked and passwords to sensitive assets no longer need to be shared. Furthermore, all activity in target systems can be monitored, allowing the termination of suspicious activity, automated alerts, and complete recording for audit and compliance.
PAM with WALLIX
Speaking of powerful, simple-to-deploy cybersecurity solutions…
WALLIX offers a robust PAM solution that simplifies security throughout organizations. Its modules offer security teams the complete visibility and control they need to prevent and detect potential security breaches. Even in the face of a difficult cybersecurity skills shortage, organizations can rest assured that their assets are protected.
Interested in learning more about WALLIX? Contact us.
