In two years, half of cybersecurity positions will need to be filled

by time news

Last Monday the news broke that the President of the Government, Pedro Sanchezand the Defense Minister, Margaret Oaks, suffered a ‘hacking’ in 2021 on their mobiles by Pegasus. It is a ‘software’ developed by the Israeli company NSO Group that allows, without the need for the affected person to click, to remotely control a device, which includes an infinite number of options such as accessing passwords or recording conversations.

These events have given relevance to the role of cybersecurity personnel, who must detect these attacks in time. They are workers whose function is increasingly prioritized by the increase in data, which entails an increase in computer attacks. For example, ransomware attacks – the most common attacks on businesses today – grew globally by 105% in 2021, according to SonicWall’s 2022 Cyber ​​Threat Report. These are computer attacks to cripple businesses by rendering their computer systems useless until a ransom is paid. These increased, in the case of governments, an alarming 1,885%, as explained Josep Domingo, director of the Cybersecurity Research Center of Catalonia. Recently, the University of California paid 1.08 million euros after an attack of this type, while the cybersecurity company Cognizant was affected by another that forced it to pay between 47 and 66 million euros, according to Fortinet data. . Given the growth of this cybersecurity gap, are there enough personnel to protect governments, companies and citizens?

The demand for cybersecurity professionals will double the supply in two years. In 2024, it is estimated that there will be 42,283 professionals seeking employment in this field to fill 83,007 vacancies. This is pointed out by the Analysis and diagnosis of cybersecurity talent in Spain prepared by ObservaCiber, which reveals that in 2021 there were already 24,119 (16%) unemployed. And this could be aggravated in the public sector due to lack of competitiveness in salaries, according to experts. “Cybersecurity is the digital field where there is the greatest shortage of profiles. And the public sector has an added difficulty: not being able to afford to pay private salaries,” he explains. jordi arrufi, director of the Digital Talent program of Mobile World Capital Barcelona (MWCapital). The public administration has stipulated and public salaries by categories. “In terms of salaries, there is not much to do in the public sector. But there these profiles can find a vocation to help the population and innovative challenges related to research,” he says. Marco Lozanohead of cybersecurity for companies at Incibe.

In private companies in Barcelona, ​​the average salary that a worker earns is 56,000 euros per year on average, while in Madrid it reaches 54,900, according to Arrufí. Among the profiles of these workers are CISO, who is the head of cybersecurity in the company; the cybersecurity architect, who thinks about how to improve a system after reviewing it; the digital forensic investigator, who is the one who inspects and generates good practices; and the cybersecurity auditor, who checks that the security measures of the computer systems comply with the regulations.

Related news

Companies try to meet the need for cybersecurity talent by recycling what they have in other departments. Specifically, 40.1% of organizations acknowledge that they have resorted to this method to protect themselves, according to the ObservaCiver report. In fact, only two out of 10 positions are filled with specifically trained talent.

Cristian Santana is an example of it. He decided to study a master’s degree in cybersecurity at Nuclio School because, as a computer scientist, he found that cybersecurity was quite weak in cloud technology: “It has grown so fast that there are many gaps.” The master’s professor Xavi Bartomeu He believes that the lack of talent in this field is “a cultural issue” and that his philosophy needs to be well explained. In addition, only 18% of the ‘bootcamps’ -or centers of intensive and practical study- have that specialization. “The offer of studies is increasing, but it will take several years until there is a professional body trained in the workplace,” he concludes Bartomeu.

You may also like

Leave a Comment