Security: Organizations Look to Security Professionals to Stem Breaches

If you’re looking for a solid career path, the role of cyber security professional is one worth checking out.

News of data breaches both in government and businesses have become nearly daily headline stories.  A report from the Open Security Foundation found that in 2012 there were 2644 known data breaches, almost double the number in 2011.  1802 of those breaches were due to cyber attacks or hacking.

Worries of breaches and data have resulted in a strong demand for security professionals from all types of organizations, and it isn’t uncommon for salaries for those in the security profession to be well above $100,000.

Hord Tipton, executive director of (ISC)2, said that “Now, more than ever before, we’re seeing an economic ripple effect occurring across the globe as a result of the dire shortage of qualified information security professionals we’ve been experiencing in recent years… Underscored by the study findings, this shortage is causing a huge drag on organizations. More and more enterprises are being breached, businesses are not able to get things done, and customer data is being compromised. Given the severity of cyber espionage, hactivism, and nation-state threats, the time is now for the public and private sectors to join forces and close this critical gap. We must focus on building a skilled and qualified security workforce that is equipped to handle today’s and tomorrow’s most sophisticated cyber threats.”

Richard Nealon, Co-chairman of the (ISC)2 EMEA Advisory Board, said that “there is a huge gap that seems to exist between information security professionals and software professionals. There’s a disconnect there. We see software vulnerabilities as the key issue, but we are not getting involved with it as a profession.  We are seeing a high number of incidents that have software vulnerabilities as a core component, but we don’t have the training to go in and get more involved in the development lifecycle. There is a huge opportunity for security professionals in the industry to get more involved.”

Denise Humphrey, deputy director for Defense Security Service’s Center for Development of Security Excellence, said that “Now we have to deal with a cyber environment where information flows faster than you can stop it, and we’ve got to have highly trained professionals capable of addressing these issues to prevent these things from happening — rather than chasing a security issue after it’s already occurred.”

In the UK, Chi Onwurah, British labor party politician, said that “Cyber security is a significant opportunity as well as a threat to our future defense and economic prosperity, and ministers need to ensure that we have the skills we will need 10 years down the line.”