This week saw the release of the latest Cybersecurity Workforce Study from (ISC)2, an annual report which breaks down the reality of the skills shortage in the cybersecurity industry.
The main finding from the 2019 report is that the size of the cybersecurity skills gap is now 4.07 million, indicating a necessary cybersecurity workforce increase of 145% globally. The findings were based on online survey data from 3237 individuals responsible for cybersecurity.
Infosecurity has studied the report and listed the top 10 takeaways from the research.
- The shortage of skilled professionals across EMEA has grown to 291,000. In the UK, the current cybersecurity workforce estimate is 289,000, alongside 121,000 in France and 133,000 in Germany
- Two-thirds (66%) of respondents said that they have a shortage of cybersecurity staff
- A lack of skilled/experienced cybersecurity personnel is the top job concern among 36% of respondents, whilst 28% cited a lack of standard terminology for effective communication and 27% named a lack of resources to do the job effectively
- A quarter (24%) of respondents said that there is inadequate budget for key security initiatives
- A large proportion (87%) of security professionals have a university degree, master’s degree or PhD
- Just over a third (37%) of respondents are below the age of 35, and 5% are categorized as 'Generation Z,' being under 25-years-old
- Half (48%) of respondents believed that their security training budgets will increase within the next year
- Almost two-thirds (62%) of large organizations with more than 500 employees have a CISO, but that number drops to 50% among smaller organizations
- Just under half (42%) of respondents said that they started their careers in cybersecurity
- More emphasis is being placed on roles like security operations, security administration, risk management and compliance, with cybersecurity teams allocating 63% of their resources to such roles