Lack of skills the main challenge in recruiting information security talent
Despite, Raj Samani — chief data scientist at McAfee — last week claiming that there is no skills shortage, a poll from Infosecurity Europe 2019 suggests the opposite.
According to the poll, a lack of skills is cited as the biggest challenge to recruiting cyber and information security talent by almost a third (30%) of respondents.
This is followed by lack of recruitment budget (27%) and lack of interest in careers within the sector (26%). More than half (52%) believe the skills shortage puts their business at increased risk of cyber attacks.
“There are shortages of technical skills, particularly in SOC analysis, threat intelligence, research, incident response and forensic investigation,” says Paul McKay, senior analyst with Forrester Research Inc. “This is a result of difficulty in filling entry level roles, and keeping people interested once they’re there. At the top end, boards want CISOs to improve how they articulate business risk and manage the dynamics of how security can enhance the business strategy and vision. This requires commercial acumen and the so-called ‘soft skills’ – actually the hardest to master!”
Not only do more than a quarter of respondents flag up a lack of interest in an information security career as a major barrier to recruitment, but 46% stated they have found it difficult to encourage new talent into the sector. This makes it clear that attracting and retaining skilled individuals needs to be a priority.
A different approach
David Boda, group head of Information Security at Camelot, suggests that businesses need to change how they approach recruitment. “Making the information security team visible to potential candidates helps attract those who are most in demand. This could be done by running meet-ups, contributing to the open source community or responsibly disclosing and publishing CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures lists), for example.”
Diversity breeds success
Cyber security is a demanding profession and the required skillset is diverse, with a mix of technical, leadership, business and communication skills necessary to effectively protect an organisation against threats and risks. Unfortunately, recent research highlights that there will be as many as 3.5 million unfilled positions in the industry by 2021.
Lisa Hamilton, Deloitte’s Cyber Security associate director, believes that actively building diverse teams is an imperative for the sector. “This will bring together individuals with their own perspectives to challenge and think about solving problems differently which will benefit the cyber security industry. To do this, we need to be open-minded when sourcing talent, focusing less on pre-requisites and more on behaviours, characteristics and enthusiasm.”
Victoria Windsor, group content manager at Infosecurity Group, says: “It is becoming increasingly difficult to find skilled cybersecurity professionals but it’s such an exciting and stimulating field to work in, with so many opportunities, we want to make sure that we, as an industry, do our best to get this message across. We will be addressing this issue at Infosecurity Europe 2019 by introducing FutureSec – a programme of sessions and events focused on the development of people, skills and careers.
“As new technologies and threats emerge, and business environments become more complex, the skillsets needed will evolve. Government, education and businesses need to acknowledge the cyber security skills gap and work on inspiring people to consider a career in the industry, while increasing inclusivity. Most importantly, the sector must address its own problem with strategies to recruit talent from a range of backgrounds and investments in training and education.”
Source: informationage
Industry: Recrutiment news

Latest Jobs
-
- IAM Consultant- One Identity Manager- UK Wide
- Manchester
- Upto £75,000 plus excellent benefits
-
One Identity IAM consultant is needed for this expanding UK based business, you will be responsible for: Developing and Supporting the Identity and Access management system based-on One Identity products Active Roles Server and Identity Manager. Further develop One Identity Manager’s integration with Service Now to provide automated JML processes and application access requests and fulfilment. Work across the business ensuring that the IAM solutions integrates into both the technology and business systems and processes, ideally automating as mush as possible. Work with the Governance Risk & Compliance (GRC) team to provide application access attestations and toxic combination alerting and reporting. Work on a mixture of IAM related projects to help to integrate new ideas and technology into the business to ensure the business stays fully compliant Assist in ensuring that all IAM capabilities are mapped to internal processes, policies, and standards. Develop metrics to measure and improve and also compile reports around the solution If you are interested in this opportunity we are looking for someone who is skilled within Identity Acess management, you will need to have worked with the One Identity product, ideally both Active Roles Server and Identity Manager Experience in managing and integrating with Microsoft systems (on-premise and cloud), such as Active Directory, Exchange, Office, SharePoint, etc.
-
- SailPoint Integration Consultant
- Unknown
- Upto £75000 plus benefits
-
SailPoint Integration Consultant. SailPoint Integration Consultant is needed for this expanding service business to help them with complex deployment with their FTSE focused customer base. They are looking for experienced SailPoint Integration Consultants who have: • Strong solution designing experience with in depth understanding of IAM concepts and thorough understanding of Sailpoint domain. • Thorough understanding of Identity and Access Governance concepts • Leading and creating Identity & Access Management (IAM) technical architecture • Secure by Design principles in Identify Access management, Privilege Access management • Familiar with cloud architectures, data management and source control from a security perspective. This is a great opportunity to join a business that is growing and looking for individuals who want to grow and develop and work on some of the most complex Sailpoint deployments.
-
- CyberArk Integration Consultant
- Greater London
- upto 75,000 plus benefits
-
CyberArk Integration Consultant. CyberArk Integration Consultant is needed for this expanding service business to help them with complex deployment with their FTSE focused customer base. They are looking for experienced CyberArk Integration Consultants who have: • Strong solution designing experience with in depth understanding of IAM concepts and thorough understanding of CyberArk domain. • Thorough understanding of Identity and Access Governance concepts • Leading and creating Identity & Access Management (IAM) technical architecture • Secure by Design principles in Identify Access management, Privilege Access management • Familiar with cloud architectures, data management and source control from a security perspective. This is a great opportunity to join a business that is growing and looking for individuals who want to grow and develop and work on some of the most complex CyberArk deployments.
-
- Penetration Tester, UK based. Ability to achieve SC clearance
- United Kingdom
- 55000
-
Experienced Penetration tester- UK based with the ability to achieve SC clearance. On-going training and development and paid certifications / renewals. Interested to hear from all areas of penetration testing, web app, infrastructure, mobile, etc. MUST have current hands on experience delivering penetration testing. Ideally from a consultancy background with experience working with multiple clients. OSCP / CREST / CHECK / Tigerscheme penetration testing experience / certifications desirable. Apply today for more details. All information kept in the strictest of confidence.