Tripwire Study: 81 per cent of security professionals say skills required for cybersecurity have changed

Participants in the study included 315 IT security professionals at U.S.-based companies with more than 100 employees.

According to the study, 81 per cent of security professionals say the skills needed for cybersecurity have changed.

The study also found that 93 per cent are concerned about the cybersecurity skills gap, and 72 per cent think it is more difficult to hire skilled security staff to defend against today’s cyberattacks compared to two years ago.

Additionally, 81 per cent believe that the skills required to be a great security professional have changed in the past few years.

“It’s evident that security teams are evolving and maturing with the rest of the cybersecurity industry, but the pool of skilled staff and training simply aren’t keeping up,” said Tim Erlin, VP product management and strategy, Tripwire. “For example, beyond the technical duties, security practitioners may now be expected to spend more time in boardrooms or in the CFO’s office to secure more budget.”

In fact, 50 per cent of respondents plan to invest more heavily in training existing staff to help with the skills shortage.

However, 20 per cent said their organizations had hired people with expertise not specific to security over the past two years, and 17 per cent said they plan to do the same over the same time period.

In terms of how organizations plan to tackle the skills gap in the future, the study found:

•    91 per cent of respondents plan to supplement their team by outsourcing for skills
•    88 per cent believe managed services would add value to solving the skills gap problem
•    98 per cent expect other functions like non-security teams to be more involved in cybersecurity in the future
•    96 per cent believe automation will play a role in solving the skills gap

More information on the study can be found here.