If you have been considering a cybersecurity job, there is no better time than now! There has been a longstanding labor shortage in the cybersecurity industry, which means plenty of unfulfilled roles. Add that to an increasingly modern, technologically inclined world, and the employment outlook is growing on top of the existing shortage.
Understanding the Costs of Cybercrime
Cybercrime is projected to inflict financial damages upwards of $6 trillion across the world, in 2021 alone. By 2025, that number is expected to rise to $10.5 trillion, showing how quickly this problem is growing. It also shows why organizations are very interested in shoring up their cybersecurity. Ignoring the problem is incredibly costly.
What makes up these costs? It includes the damage and destruction of data, which needs to be restored. It also includes stolen money, lost time and thus lost productivity, fraud, forensic investigation costs, and the cost to an organization’s reputation.
The solution for companies should be easy: create the cybersecurity position you need, offer good pay and benefits, and watch the applications roll in. In an ideal world, every company that needs cybersecurity professionals has them and nobody has to worry about cybercrime. In reality, as those trillion-dollar costs show, cybersecurity is not nearly as strong as it should be.
Understanding the Cybersecurity Skills Gap
The problem with filling open cybersecurity positions lies in the cybersecurity skills gap. While the need for cybersecurity professionals is clear, and the job postings are always out there, there aren’t enough people to fill these roles. There are over three million unfilled cybersecurity jobs, over twice the number of workers in the field.
There are many reasons for the shortage, the first being how quickly technology changes and the specialized knowledge these jobs require. When companies find someone who can fill their needs, they will work hard to recruit and secure that talent, which means available pros are often going to the highest bidder.
In the meantime, education and training have not kept up with the demand for workers. The numbers of students graduating from cybersecurity programs is not enough to handle the shortage. Companies, governments, and educational institutes are campaigning to graduate more people, but at present, there’s still very much a gap. As a would-be cybersecurity professional, this is good news for you! You can get the job you want, and be in demand, which means you have many options.
Why Cybersecurity Matters in 2022
Cybersecurity has always mattered, for as long as companies have been operating online. However, in today’s landscape, there are certain trends and implications that make cybersecurity that much more critical.
First, there’s the obvious impact of a global pandemic and companies having to move even more work online and remote. Companies are using cloud-based platforms more than ever, while workers are in their home offices without immediate IT supervision. It’s the perfect storm for cybercrime and malicious attacks, which can only be handled with a strong cybersecurity department in place.
The introduction of 5G has also made cybersecurity that much more imperative. Connected devices and the Internet of Things are expanding while the cybersecurity skills gap remains and remote workers are vulnerable. So, as the title of this post says — now’s the time to get that cybersecurity job you’ve been wanting!
Cybersecurity Skills in Demand
According to an Atlas VPN report, there are some cybersecurity skills that are in particularly high demand. The fastest-growing is application development security, expected to rise 164% in demand over the next five years. Atlas VPN calculates that to mean there will be over 46,000 new openings for specialists in this expertise, with an increasingly mobile world.
Cloud security is another skill in demand, expected to grow by 115% between now and 2025. Risk management, threat intelligence, and incident response are also projected as top-growing cybersecurity skills, showing that companies are invested in avoiding issues. Compliance and controls, data privacy and security, access management, security strategy and governance, and health information security round out the list.
Further looking at which skills are in demand, AtlasVPN determined which top-growing cybersecurity skills pay the best. Cloud security takes the lead, followed by risk management, then compliance and controls. It is clear that organizations need cybersecurity experts and are willing to pay to secure these roles.
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