The late great Notorious B.I.G. once said, “More money, more problems.” Although you may not think that’s the case, this also applies in the cybersecurity realm.
According to ISACA’s “State of Cybersecurity in 2018” study, a majority of 2,300 respondents indicated that their cybersecurity budgets would be increasing. Problem is, they’re having a tough time trying to allocate some of that budget toward acquiring new talent for their teams.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents surveyed in the report indicated that it takes three months or longer to fill an empty position. Furthermore, the more technical the position, the more difficult it is to fill.
Not many applications are coming in, and of those that do come in, not many are qualified.
“Cybersecurity is at negative unemployment,” Clyde told InfoSec Insider during a recent interview shot at the RSA Conference. “There are way more positions than there are people available for those. A lot of this is just because we lack sufficient trained individuals.”
Another aspect attributing to this is diversity, according to Clyde. There is a substantial gender disparity. Another facet of the study asked men and women if they believed the opportunities for advancement for women in cybersecurity were the same as those for men. There was a 31 percent gap in those who indicated “yes” from men to women.
“That’s huge, and it indicates we have a lot of work to do,” says Clyde. “Part of the answer is for us to involve more women in this particular profession.”
In the full-length video interview, Clyde discusses what’s leading cybersecurity to be at negative unemployment, but also shares how addressing issues in diversity, training and education could go a long way in closing that talent gap.
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