Cybersecurity relies on talented workers - how do we inspire talent?

With Cybersecurity Awareness Month drawing to a close, the increasing importance of cybersecurity in our day-to-day lives is becoming strikingly clear, both professionally and personally.

As the industry grows, so too do cyber threats: from protecting industry supply chains to ensuring workers personal data is protected, it is becoming more important than ever to secure talent in the right places.

Read more: Operational cybersecurity and the new industrial frontier

Skills gaps are being found all across industry, from difficulties in securing talent to allow for innovation within sectors, such as renewable energy, that are increasingly struggling to fill roles, to issues securing skilled staff in the wake of increasing digitalisation.

However, a lack of ready workers is severely affecting the cyber sector. Every 39 seconds a new cyber-attack occurs, and as cyber threats become more complex and potentially more catastrophic with each passing day, so it is imperative the industry bring fresh blood in to keep up.

"The cybersecurity skills gap is the biggest single issue facing the sector", Robert Hannigan from BlueVoyant International said in a statement to IndustryEurope. "The skills shortage isn’t going to improve overnight; tackling this problem requires more collaboration between the government and private sector."

BlueVoyant is a cybersecurity startup founded in 2017 whose goal is to protect organisations against advanced cybersecurity threats. They specialise in modulated end-to-end cybersecurity.

He joined BlueVoyant following a stint as director of GCHQ, and has dedicated himself to helping plug the skills gap in the industry.

A report from HDI released at the end of 2020 suggests as many as 4 million new cybersecurity workers will be needed globally.

Hannigan suggests that people from backgrounds typically underrepresented in the cyber and tech sectors, such as women or ethnic minorities, present an untapped opportunity for the indsutry.

He states it is important these communities are "empowered" to pursue a career in cyber, which could not only provide a larger pool of talent, but also ensure there is "greater diversity of experiences and viewpoints, which will be important in keeping up to speed with the tactics deployed by cyber attackers".

Read more: Cybercrime has thrived during the coronavirus pandemic

Another issue the industry is having is the accessibility of jobs. "Upskilling" has become a major factor within the tech sector in recent years, as companies look to retrain their workers to cover a wider variety of new jobs.

The rise of apprenticeships and internships have also inspired people to choose careers they may previously not have considered. In the US alone, there are anywhere between 500,000 to one million interns at any given time, though many of these are unpaid, which has caused a debate to rage about banning unpaid internships in favour of paid ones.

However, the same report suggests as many as 70% of internships in the US lead to full-time employment.

Hannigan said: "Although great strides are being made within the industry, with the introduction of cyber internships and mentoring schemes for disadvantaged communities, persistence and patience is required to see results stemming from such initiatives. It’s going to take some years to actually shift the overall picture on cyber-skills, but we have to be open to trying new things.

"As well as making a cybersecurity career more accessible to those from underrepresented groups, the sector needs to become more inclusive to those from non-technical backgrounds. Organisations should be open-minded and not have tunnel-vision for a candidate with a computer science degree; they should be much more open to experience and aptitude.

"We’ve been much too traditional in the cyber sector in the way we recruit and measure skills, and it is very possible to learn technical skills outside of traditional academic settings. This is why initiatives like apprenticeships are especially important in enabling this."

Hannigan stresses the importance of being honest with employers, so they can train you properly.

"Studying doesn't substitute for years of technical practice", he added.

It is also imperative when looking to plug the skills gap that jobs opportunities are not simply presented to younger generations. Upskilling, or any other opportunities of presenting new work opportunities to workers, must also apply to older generations, who may actually need more help in getting into the tech industry.

"It's never too late to join the industry", Hannigan said, alluding to his own past as "not being deeply technical", suggesting that for some people mid-career switches may be the way to allow for workers to specialise in one niche area of cyber.

Read more: IE talks cybersecurity, industrial infrastructure & digitalisation with Kaspersky

"Cybersecurity is a team sport, made up of different, but equally important, individuals. Although we focus on technology in cyber, it is actually all about people. If you bring the right people with the right skills together, that’s when amazing things can happen.

"That’s true in GCHQ and it’s also true in the private sector. For more experienced people, it’s all about having some humility around your own role and enabling others to be their best", he concluded.

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