Tackling the Cyber Security Skills Shortage

The internet is playing an essential role in facilitating the smooth running of businesses and institutions across the globe. We use it for several purposes including marketing, establishing our online presence, and making transactions for items purchased from various sites.

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While the internet was created for the good of humanity, it is sad to note that other individuals target online users’ banking details and other essential data for their benefit. Even worse, is the fact that not every company can afford the services of qualified IT personnel, and also if they did, there is a shortage of skilled persons in the field.

As such, several institutions have to contend with this reality or find alternative ways to deal with the deficit. In this article, we give insight into some of the ways various business institutions are tackling the shortage of skill in cybersecurity.

In-House Training

Instead of pointing fingers at the reason for online insecurity, companies are now taking an active approach towards fighting it, through in-house training. An entity will solicit for a trainer who specialises in IT solutions to train its team on how to detect and respond to security breaches.

All staff members learn how to avoid being victims of a cyber attack. Best of all, the trainer presents practical examples of similar situations that aid the trainees to put into practice what they have learned. Therefore, companies are assured that they have a first responder in case of a crisis.

The importance of this should not be undervalued. After all, insider attacks are the most common type of data breach. This is when a hack occurs because of something one of your employees has done. Usually, this will not be on purpose, although malicious attacks can happen. More often than not, though, a mistake occurs because of a lack of cyber awareness, and this results in a hacker gaining access. This shows why investing in cybersecurity training is hugely important.

Encouraging Cyber Degrees And Courses
It is also important to encourage cyber degrees and training. More and more courses have cropped up over the years, from penetration testing to network security administration. The more people who are trained in cyber security, the greater chance we all have of winning this battle against hackers and cyber criminals. At the moment, there is an evident difference in regards to supply and demand when it comes to cyber professionals; the demand outweighs the supply. One of the ways we can bridge this gap is by advertising cyber security courses and showcasing their worth, compelling more people to sign up.

Creating Software-Specific Security

In 2017, security threats were targeting all Microsoft-powered devices; specifically those running on Windows software, was launched and in less than a day over 150 nations worldwide were complaining about the effects of the virus. This was a learning point for Microsoft and other software-providing companies as it showed them a loophole that could be used to attack their products. Consequently, these organisations are now coming up with ways to integrate a threat intelligence security tool in the production stage in all of their new machines. This provides extra caution to companies, especially if they have put up measures to detect and tackle any security threats.

Educating the Public

There is this absurd notion taking rounds among the general public that only wealthy individuals and companies are prone to cyber attacks. This is a fallacy that should not be spoken out loud considering that hackers are now targeting social sites and individual machines just to prove a point.

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We need to remember that just because the most famous data breaches tend to be about the big businesses, it does not mean that the small companies are not targetted. A lot of small business owners believe that it will not happen to them. They think that the hacker has bigger fish to fry. Yes, there is no denying that a big company will be more lucrative. Nevertheless, a big company is also going to have more resources at their disposal and should be a lot more difficult to hack. This is why a lot of hackers view small companies as an easy payday and so they will target them instead.

Teaching the public on ways to safeguard themselves from attacks can be a great starting point. You can do this by creating a free site on the matter. However, this is wishful thinking now that most of these big corporations are usually the masterminds behind these attacks, in an attempt to create a problem, find a solution then sell it to the public for profit. There are many different careers that can be harvested out of cyber security and help to plug the shortage gap.

Encouraging More People to Venture into Cyber Security

Cyber Security is a technical area of expertise that needs an individual to be dedicated and more importantly, enthusiastic about their job. Not so many people find this realm as exciting; thus, they opt for other careers. On the other hand, cybersecurity jobs are opening up by the day due to the nature and amount of attacks that are released into the market on a daily basis. Not so much has been done to encourage more people to take up cybersecurity education chances, which leaves a massive gap between the demand and supply. To help reduce this gap, several governments should encourage their high school leavers, especially those who are fond of technical subjects, to join learning institutions that offer this course. To lure more students, these authoritative bodies can use incentives like subsidised tuition fees and scholarships to these students or better yet, provide institutions that specialise in this niche.

An organisation like the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) has taken up the burden on itself to encourage students to take up cybersecurity courses through career and technical education programs. The organisation has programs for high school students, college student, and business and economic individuals. Providing this education from the lowest level possible is one way to ensure that the lack of skilled labourers in this sector is reduced significantly, especially if this becomes a collective affair to be done by various governments across the globe.

The Use of Virtual Private Networks

If you cannot avoid your enemy, hide from him. This is precisely the strategy that VPN’s employ. Companies are opting to use such software to protect their online activities from attackers. A virtual private network provides a secure connection to the internet that conceals the location and online activities that an individual takes part in. Even though using a VPN is tactful, businesses and institutions still need to put up other measures to ensure that their offline activities cannot be detected remotely. From firewalls to encryption; the best cyber security strategies are layered, making it difficult for people to breach.

Bottom Line

Tackling the shortage of cybersecurity skills is not a one-person job. It requires the effort of education institutions, governments, parents, and job institutions as well. Before we can get to a point where the demand and supply are at par, it looks as if everyone will have to use alternative ways to keep themselves safe from cyber attacks. On the brighter side, security software such as VPN’s has come to the rescue. While this is a temporary precautionary act, it will work just fine until other solutions are developed.