'Talent gap' is no excuse for lax cybersecurity

SINGAPORE (Oct 15): Cyberattacks could very well “blow us up”, says Ian Bremmer, president of political risk consultancy Eurasia Group. Bremmer, who was speaking at the ANZ Finance & Treasury Forum in Singapore on Oct 10, warned that cyberattacks pose major near-term risks to organisations and society across the globe. Indeed, the risks could be more severe than anticipated, with companies doing all they can to not disclose breaches or other lapses when they do occur.

All this is taking place amid concerns that organisations are woefully ill-prepared for cyberattacks in the first place. This has been attributed partly to the apparent gap between the growing need for cybersecurity professionals and the talent that is available. According to consultants PwC, the global cybersecurity workforce gap will widen to 1.5 million job openings by 2019, up from one million last year.

Experts The Edge Singapore spoke to point out that the shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals is only growing. “In many countries, the education system is struggling to catch up. People have to get training on the job, and this makes experienced candidates even more valuable,” says David Maciejak, director of security research at Fortinet.

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