According to a 2015 Global Cybersecurity Status report published by Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), 86 percent of the 3,436 business professionals that responded to the survey believe there is a shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals. Compare that to the over 300,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs in the US — estimated to reach 1 million to 1.5 million by 2020, and it is safe to say we have a talent crisis. Security will remain a hot, highly in-demand skill well into 2016 and beyond.
“We are in a situation where the sector of technology with the greatest potential negative impact on our lives, businesses, governments, peace, safety and security happens to have a severe deficiency of qualified people to fill its jobs,” says Trevor Halstead, product specialist, Talent Services, with online education and training provider Cybrary.
That shortage, coupled with high-profile security breaches like those at Target, Sony and others, are sending organizations scrambling to find security talent, notes Bueno. “We’re seeing an uptick in clients hiring vulnerability testers and hackers to try and breach their systems, and to tell them how to improve their security posture,” he says.