Shortage of Cyber Security Professionals Will Create a Staggering 3.5 Million Unfilled Jobs by 2021

Cyber security issues are becoming more prominent every day, so much so that it's questioning the existence of many startups and small-to-mid scale businesses. Recent trends indicate that cyber security attacks have been at an all-time rise.

Moreover, studies reveal that many companies have poor cyber security policies in place, making them more vulnerable to cyber attacks. Nearly 68% of business leaders feel that their cyber security threats are increasing.

So, what's the biggest problem in the cyber security industry?

Is it rising data breaches?

Is it lack of resources to invest in cyber security?

Well, all of that and none of that!

The problem behind weak cyber security policies maybe lack of resource investment, or inappropriate tool selection, or simply lack of security patches in software and operating systems.

But what's most interesting is that even if you deploy the best possible tools to strengthen your security, implement robust cyber security policies, and apply all security patches, you need to have skilled professionals to do all of those things!

Lack of Skilled Cyber Security Professionals

One of the most crucial problems in the cyber security industry is the lack of skilled cyber security professionals. With the rapidly-increasing cyber attacks, businesses are constantly on the look out to find skilled professionals who can help strengthen the overall security of their organization.

A survey conducted by the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) found that 82% of employees reported lack of cyber security skills. Furthermore, 61% of companies think the applications they received for cyber security jobs aren't qualified.

With such massive gaps between the demand and supply of skilled professionals, the cyber security industry is hanging by a thread, vulnerable to exploits and data breaches that may take a toll on their entire organization.

Cyber Security Ventures predicts a talent crunch to create around 3.5 million unfilled cyber security jobs globally by 2021. The staggering statistic got businesses across the world on the edge of their desks. From IoT devices to our emails, work files, software, applications, systems, almost every business is fueled by data that needs security.

Without skilled professionals in place, there's not much companies can do to protect themselves from cyber criminals who might be lurking on their data to leverage a single vulnerability and launch a cyber attack!

Accenture reports the average cost of a malware attack can cost about $2.6 million to a company. While global corporations and companies might have the resources to battle against hard-hitting cyber attacks, SMBs may topple down the hill and self-destruct.

Why Small Businesses Will Suffer the Most From Shortage of Cyber Security Professionals?

Small scale businesses or SMBs often suffer the wrath of cyber attacks the most. This is because often they don't have the resources to overcome from the damage caused by cyber attacks.

What happens when a cyber attack occurs?

Cyber attacks can lead to the following:

• Loss of data
• Data Leakage
• Identity Theft
• Decline in Sales
• Reduced Revenue
• Damage to Brand Reputation
• Decline in Market Valuation

A small business cannot pump cash quickly into stabilizing its market reputation, or get more investors on board, or get its customers to trust them again. Once a cyber attack has occurred, and data of customers or clients is stolen, they will lose trust in the organization and might choose a competitor brand that promises to deliver better security to their data.

In addition to this, the company is also liable to conduct forensic investigation to detect the cause of the data breach, and this alone, could cost fortunes to small businesses.

So, will all our data be leaked?

Well, organizations are trying their best to minimized the gap between their demand and skilled individuals. Many businesses host regular training sessions to educate and train their employees about various aspects of cyber security. Moreover, companies are also leveraging technologies such as automation and machine learning to enhance their security and reduce dependency on human controlled software.