The UK government this week touted the success of a new initiative aimed at encouraging workers to embark on new careers in cyber, but experts say much more is needed to fill the skills gap. warns that you must do
More than 3,600 people have applied to join the Upskill in Cyber program, which targets people without a cybersecurity background, and is being conducted in partnership with the SANS Institute, according to a government communication yesterday.
Encouragingly, more than half of the applicants are women, and more than half are from outside London or the South East.
The program is part of the government’s £2.6bn National Cyber Strategy, which aims to equip people with the skills and knowledge they need to embark on new careers in the sector, according to the government. provides a training course for
To learn more about the industry skills shortage, see Cybersecurity Workforce Gap to Grow 26% by 2022.
Viscount Camrose, Minister for AI and Intellectual Property, argued that the sector is already growing “by leaps and bounds.”
“In just 12 months, our strong workforce of 58,000 has increased by 10%. To meet the needs of the growing digital economy, we can maintain a steady supply of highly skilled and diverse professionals. It is imperative that we do so,” he added.
However, the scale of the cyber skills shortage requires well over thousands of new hires per year.
The government’s own report last year found that half (51%) of UK businesses have a basic cyber skills gap, requiring an average of 21,600 new hires per year to meet talent demand. Did.
ISC2 calculated that the UK had a shortage of 56,811 cybersecurity professionals last year, an increase of 73% on the year.
RiverSafe CEO Suid Adeyanju agreed that more needs to be done to address the skills crisis.
“Building a thriving cybersecurity industry requires a dynamic and diverse workforce, but it is still not enough to bring women and people of diverse backgrounds into the industry. A more ambitious national cyber skills plan is needed to increase expertise in this area as the national infrastructure is at risk,” he argued.
“Upskilling programs have made great strides in getting more women into the cyber industry, but transforming the learning process and encouraging more people to enter the industry will require companies, industry Coordinated efforts by associations, schools and universities are also needed.”
Vercara CTO Michael Smith added that government programs are limited in what they can do.
“Fixing the skills gap in the long term requires a more holistic approach, led by cybersecurity leaders and prioritizing talent development from within. It’s a perfect cybersecurity strategy,” he argued.
“We need this because when we hire staff in this industry, we expect a very wide range of skills from our staff and no one has exactly the mix that is described in the job description. If you can find people with these skills, they’re usually not within commuting distance, and they’re very expensive.”
Infosecurity Europe experts suggested last week that organizations should take a closer look at their internal talent elsewhere in the business and reconsider their hiring policies and interviewing techniques to recruit the right people.
