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Business leaders report urgent need for cybersecurity skills as digital talent gap widensNEW YORK, Feb. 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report by Capgemini's Digital Transformation Institute highlights an urgent and growing cybersecurity talent gap, calling for new recruitment and retention strategies to help organizations contain cyber risks and build competitive advantage. The report, Cybersecurity Talent: The Big Gap in Cyber Protection, demonstrates that of all the digital skills necessary for organizations with aspirations of digital leadership, cybersecurity represents the biggest gap between demand for those skills and internal supply. The report surveyed more than 1,200 senior executives and front-line employees and analyzed social media sentiment of more than 8,000 cybersecurity employees. Sixty-eight percent of organizations reported high demand for cybersecurity skills compared to 61 percent demanding innovation skills and 64 percent analytics skills. Demand for these skills was then set against the availability of proficient skills already present in the organization. This identified a 25 percentage point gap for cybersecurity skills (with 43 percent availability of proficient skills already present in the organization), compared to a 13 percentage point gap for analytics (51 percent already present) and a 21 percentage point gap for innovation (40 percent already present). "The cybersecurity skills gap has a very real effect on organizations in every sector," said Mike Turner, Chief Operating Officer of Capgemini's Cybersecurity Global Service Line. "Spending months rather than weeks looking for suitable candidates is not only inefficient, it also leaves organizations dangerously exposed to rising incidents of cybercrime. Business leaders must urgently rethink how they recruit and retain talent, particularly if they wish to maximize the benefits from investment in digital transformation." The demand for precious cybersecurity talent is projected to grow over the next 2-3 years with 72 percent of respondents predicting high demand for cybersecurity in 2020, compared to 68 percent today. Set against increasing incidents of cyberattacks and the need for organizations to not only protect themselves but also maximize competitive advantage from digitization, the report recommends a series of tactical priorities for business leaders. Priority 1 – integrate security "It's important to make the organization as a whole better at cybersecurity, aligningthe enterprise with principles and processes that are secure from the ground up," explains Turner. "Get the basics right, in terms of application development. Develop secure code. Make your network engineers and cloud architects better at securing the cloud. That's a good way to fight the skills gap, because it teaches the organization to be secure by design." Priority 2 – maximize existing skillsets In addition, companies should look at the requirement to embed security into every service and application, and hire business communicators to complement the technical skills in their team. Business analysts and technical marketers could be transferred to cybersecurity roles to enable the company-wide adoption of best practices. Priority 3 – think outside the box "Thinking outside the box is about understanding the transferable skills," adds Turner. "For example, people on the autism spectrum are fantastic at pattern spotting and are often blessed with numerical and problem-solving skills, attention to detail and a methodical approach to work – all useful traits for cybersecurity best practice." Priority 4 – strengthen retention The report reveals that cybersecurity employees value organizations that offer flexible working arrangements, encourage training, and prioritize clear and accessible career progression. Within the new report, a difficult work-life balance was discussed as one of the five worst aspects of the job by cybersecurity professionals on social media and a main reason why they leave or remain dissatisfied with their company. The clear majority (81 percent) of cybersecurity talent agreed with the statement, "I prefer joining organizations where I have a clear career development path," compared to 62 percent of all respondents in our survey. The number is even higher (84 percent) for Gen Y and Gen Z employees2, who highlighted a lack of career progression as their number one concern. Managing these softer but equally important retention issues is a key requirement for building a viable and sustainable cybersecurity offering. Research Methodology Capgemini also conducted interviews with recruiters from global firms, cybersecurity associations and academics to understand best practices to mitigate the cybersecurity talent gap. Lastly, Capgemini analyzed the sentiments of around 8,400 current and former employees at 53 cybersecurity firms with at least 100 employees on social media. Selected firms operate primarily in the cybersecurity space covering (but not limited to) data security, cloud security, mobile security, enterprise security, email security, and application security. A copy of the report can be downloaded here. About Capgemini Visit us at www.capgemini.com. People matter, results count. About the Digital Transformation Institute 1Report published by Capgemini in conjunction with LinkedIn: "The Digital Talent Gap—Are Companies Doing Enough?"
View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/business-leaders-report-urgent-need-for-cybersecurity-skills-as-digital-talent-gap-widens-300601585.html SOURCE Capgemini |