BUSINESS SURVEILLANCE
HOW CAN AUTOMATION SOLVE THE CYBERSECURITY SKILLS GAP ?
The cybersecurity skills gap continues to dominate conversations across the industry as business leaders attempt to find a resolution . Brett Candon , VP International of Cyware , explores how and why automation could be the answer to solving the seemingly unsolvable .
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T skills gap has become one of technology ’ s most challenging recurring themes in recent years . It has developed at a particularly difficult time given the rising volume , sophistication and success of threat actors . The issues impact organisations of all shapes and sizes , with one recent UK Government Labour Market Report revealing that 50 % of all UK businesses have a basic cybersecurity skills gap and 33 % have an advanced gap .
This translates to a situation where , this year , 37 % of cybersecurity job vacancies were defined as ‘ hard-to-fill ’, with an overall shortfall of 11,200 people needed to meet workforce demand in the UK alone . Scale that to an international level and it ’ s easy to see why the global talent gap remains such a significant issue .
For organisations that rely on SOC teams to address daily cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities , any talent gaps present concerns . As those responsible for the detection , investigation and mitigation of cyber threats , they need the right people in place who can focus on everything from threat intelligence and incident analysis to intrusion detection and incident response .
In recent years many organisations have turned to automation in an attempt to solve – or at least reduce – the problem . There is a widely-reported misconception that automation will replace workers and jobs will be lost – but nothing could be further from the truth . By automating routine tasks , cybersecurity professionals are freed up to focus on more complex and strategic tasks , leading to faster resolution times for security incidents .
Brett Candon , VP International of Cyware
The growing strain on cybersecurity professionals
Given the underlying talent shortfall , it ’ s not surprising that many SOC teams are understaffed and struggle to cover all the cybersecurity bases . This situation is aggravated by the sheer volume of alerts and log data that need to be analysed – a to-do list that , for many working in the industry , has become both timeconsuming and repetitive . This is part of a concerning picture that saw two-thirds of cybersecurity professionals reporting that they had experienced burnout last year , according to research . As well as the serious risks this poses to individual well-being , there are knock-on effects , including the potential for missing out on critical threats and the subsequent damage that can be caused .
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