Some 90% of cybersecurity professionals are male, highlighting the continued challenge of diversity in the industry despite major salary and job satisfaction benefits, according to new stats from Exabeam.
The security vendor’s 2018 Cyber Security Professionals Salary and Job Report is comprised of interviews with nearly 500 IT security professionals from around the globe.
It found the vast majority were male, with 71% possessing a bachelor’s degree.
This lack of diversity is especially frustrating given the huge benefits on offer to those who do decide on a career in cybersecurity.
Median salaries range from $75,000 – $100,000 per year, with 34% of respondents to the Exabeam poll claiming to earn more than $100,000 annually. In addition, over 80% said they feel secure about the future of their role and 86% would recommend a career in the industry to new graduates.
James Hadley, CEO of UK start-up Immersive Labs, argued that redressing the gender imbalance in the industry will require a ground-up approach, including initiatives like the NCSC’s CyberFirst Girls Competition.
“At Immersive Labs, we tackle the distinct lack of diversity in cyber head-on through our free Digital Cyber Academies for students and veterans and in the future, those with neurodiverse conditions and women returning to work,” he added.
“These academies allow people from all backgrounds a chance to develop real-life cyber-skills as well as provide a platform for a career in cybersecurity without any predisposed biases. Equally, they enable organizations to adopt a skills-led hiring process, removing the barrier and over-reliance on university computer science degrees.”
The Exabeam study also shone a light on the increasing importance of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to the cybersecurity industry.
A third (32%) of respondents claimed to be using AI and machine learning already while nearly half (46%) said they’re planning to do so in the future.
Nearly three-quarters said they think AI will make their job better or easier.
However, a poll from Webroot late last year revealed that 91% of cybersecurity professionals are also concerned about hackers using the technology against their organization.
It’s thought that AI and machine learning could help the black hats better locate vulnerabilities in systems as well as learn and then mimic user behavior more effectively to trick traditional security and anti-fraud tools.