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Managing Cybersecurity During the IT Skills Shortage

With growing Digital Transformation, leading to increasingly complex IT infrastructures, plus the threat of more sophisticated cyberattacks, many organizations need to increase investments in cybersecurity. Unfortunately, the IT skills shortage is slowing growth and making it difficult to find cybersecurity professionals with the relevant experience.

According to Gartner’s 2021-2023 Emerging Technology Roadmap for Large Enterprises, 75% of IT executives cite talent availability as their main challenge for adopting IT automation. The cybersecurity skills crisis impacts 57% of organizations according to ISSA. More distressing, 95% of organizations say this skills shortage has not improved over the past few years.

What is causing the IT skills shortage to worsen and how can enterprises secure their growing infrastructure, while dealing with this lack of qualified talent?

What is Causing the IT Skills Shortage?

The simplest explanation for the IT skills shortage are the challenges education faces in investing in technology and adapting to the rapidly changing tech landscape. The majority of recent graduates aren’t equipped with training in emerging technologies such as infrastructure services, network security, and IT automation.

Unfortunately, this shortage is compounded by existing cybersecurity experts facing more difficult working conditions. In ISSA’s study of cybersecurity professionals, existing employees say a heavier workload (62%), unfilled positions (38%), and worker burnout (38%) all contribute to the skills gap.

On top of a deficit in supply, the demand for IT professionals is growing rapidly. The number of security technologies being deployed increased by 84% from 2020 to 2021. As enterprises continue to grow their reliance on cloud and edge computing, cybersecurity demands increase.

Long Term Cybersecurity Skills Gap Solutions

The cybersecurity skills crisis isn’t going to be solved any time soon, but there are important steps that your organization and the industry need to take to head in the right direction.

  • Invest in cybersecurity training: Keeping existing employees up-to-date on the latest threats and technology is the best way to close the gap and 91% of cybersecurity employees agree. Unfortunately, 48% say their companies don’t pay for the necessary training.
  • Align with HR on cybersecurity needs: In order to attract talented employees, HR needs to understand what IT is looking for and which skills are necessary to work in cybersecurity. Unfortunately, 29% of organizations say their security team’s relationship with HR is fair or poor.
  • Cybersecurity Awareness Month: This month, CISA and NCSA are working to raise awareness for cybersecurity and provide resources to companies and individuals looking for more training. Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a great step the industry is taking to fill the skills gap.
Immediate Solutions to the Cybersecurity Skills Crisis

While the above measures can take us in the right direction, your organization likely faces cybersecurity challenges today and lacks the security resources needed to address them. Finding the right solutions and assistance today can help you continue to grow, keep your infrastructure secure and ensure business continuity.

When evaluating new technologies, such as DDoS protection, look for solutions that offer flexible deployment and automatic protection. The ability to cover your on-premises, hybrid, and cloud infrastructures without requiring custom integrations is critical to maintain availability, whilst minimizing the need for specialized knowledge. Make sure the chosen solutions offer automated protection and clear, actionable intelligence that doesn’t require specialist skills to operate.

If you do need more specialized assistance, choose a vendor that offers managed protection services. Support your existing IT team and get through the IT skills shortage with a team of experts to implement, monitor, and manage your protection.

For over a decade, Corero has been providing state-of-the-art, highly-effective, real-time automatic DDoS protection solutions for enterprise, hosting and service provider customers around the world. Our SmartWall® DDoS mitigation solutions protect on-premise, cloud, virtual and hybrid environments. For more on Corero’s flexible deployment models, click here.  If you’d like to learn more, please contact us.