Three Essential Steps Security Leaders Must Take to Address the Skills Gap

Three Essential Steps Security Leaders Must Take to Address the Skills Gap

The threat environment is altering daily, and the threats themselves are becoming considerably more complex. Unfortunately, there are not enough skilled cybersecurity specialists to meet demand. How do CISOs address this challenge?

According to (ISC)2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study, 2021, as the employment gap shrank from an expected 3.12 million in 2020 to 2.72 million in 2021, cybersecurity actually made some progress. Despite this, as global cybercrime leaps to unprecedented heights, change has been too slow and, for many companies, too late. The harsh reality is that the skills gap firms are presently experiencing has been for more than ten years.

Here are three areas that security leaders can consider to aid with staffing issues in the modern environment.

Spend on employee training 

Infosec professionals are about twice as likely to plan their careers less than three months in advance and twice as likely to lack a clearly delineated career path when there is no employer-sponsored training program in place.

The confidence and career objectives of employees may be greatly influenced by their employers. Employers can boost employee retention rates and build a solid bench that is better equipped to handle unanticipated obstacles and fill future jobs by investing in people and emphasizing long-term career advancement.

Employees without a clear professional orientation are often more prone to experience career stagnation and languish in self-restraining roles, which leads to lower work satisfaction and a higher likelihood of leaving their company. Employer-sponsored employee training initiatives aid employees in understanding the course of their careers. As a result, they become more assured in their job, boosting their confidence in their career choice and freeing up more time to learn new skills and knowledge.

Also Read: Closing the Cybersecurity Skills Gap with MSPs

Automate with individuals in mind

Enterprises have been hesitant to automate for years out of concern that they would get harmed if a machine mistakenly quarantines a system or blocks a port on a firewall. Now, organizations can fine-tune automation and optimize it for their particular settings, thanks to technological advancements. Teams can always have the most excellent tool for the task by balancing automation with human intelligence and analysis. While human analysts conduct sporadic, highly consequential, and time-sensitive investigations, businesses automate repetitive, low-risk, time-consuming operations. Automation, however, makes part of the work easier.

In addition to its apparent security advantages, balanced automation also aids in employee retention and recruiting. It prevents highly qualified analysts from quitting due to boredom or burnout. With the understanding that they can spend more time on engaging, strategic activities, firms can utilize it as a recruiting tool to draw talent. They may hone their investigative and threat-hunting skills, as well as when and where to deploy automation.

Reskilling, upskilling, and providing more significant incentives

Running a skill gap study and utilizing the transferrable talents of current IT personnel is another option for businesses. Many young IT workers are deterred from entering the cybersecurity industry by issues including slow career advancement and a lack of alluring incentives.

Organizations should put a lot of effort into reskilling, upskilling, and keeping hold of the current cybersecurity personnel. The field of cybersecurity is dynamic and complex. The industry sees brand-new, erratic attacks every day in the era of multi-cloud infrastructure. Cybersecurity experts must be watchful and up to date on the most recent developments to protect networks. Young and experienced talent may be attracted and kept for a more extended amount of time with regular training, certifications, and tempting incentives.

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