As the issue of cyber security grows day-by-day, so does the need to recruit professionals to keep businesses’ data secure.
The US Council on Cyber Security has called on the cyber security industry and government to "get serious" about the workforce problem with a perceived lack of security professionals to meet current demand, according to the Financial Times.
"Initiatives such as these are vital in countering the balance of cybercrime and making positive steps forward for businesses," Andy Philpott, SVP Sales at IT security firm, Websense, told CBR.
"Whilst the UK is itself launching initiatives, more needs to be done to recruit the best information security professionals into the industry.
He added: "The government and cyber security industry must enable security researchers to not only learn how to analyse threats, but also invest in educating them on solutions that block attacks in real-time and provide the forensics that will allow them to understand what was trying to be achieved."
This corroborates the Global Information Security Workforce Study by Frost and Sullivan consultants, which revealed that the global demand for people with cyber security skills is forecast to grow at about 13.2% each year from 2012 to 2017.
Additionally, the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills reported that 78% of large organisations were attacked by an unauthorised outsider in 2013, compromising confidential information.
"This highlights that highly sophisticated, targeted attacks are occurring every day and are focused on both small and large UK businesses," said Philpott.
"It is therefore more crucial than ever that UK businesses place security higher up the agenda."
