Hackers are getting increasingly successful, ramping up cyberattacks using sophisticated tools. Yet, the industry is battling a severe shortage of cybersecurity professionals. It is estimated that there will be as many as 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity positions in the industry by 2025. This skills gap crisis is of epic proportions, and most organizations have no clue what to do about it.
Hackers are having a field day, taking advantage of understaffed enterprises with little or no ability to prevent, detect, and respond to attacks. These companies are at high risk of suffering a data breach that may take years to recover from, but with Managed Cybersecurity Services, it doesn’t have to be that bad.
Why Is There a Shortage of Cybersecurity Professionals?
The skills gap crisis is universal – irrespective of the industry or the region. While companies are driving immense efforts in recruiting (and retaining) the best talent, job seekers are seen running from pillar to post in search of the ideal job. The situation is palpable in cybersecurity, and there are many reasons for this:
The Demand for Cybersecurity Professionals Keeps Surging
As digital transformation engulfs the business world with new tech becoming so rampant, organizations are finding it hard to fill many IT positions, especially in the security department.
Cybersecurity Professionals Find Better Opportunities
Smaller enterprises are often at the receiving end, as they often find a handful of their specialized security experts being snatched by large corporations.
Employers Have Unrealistic Expectations
Many companies do not want to hire candidates who do not have the degrees or technical expertise, even if they come across as smart, collaborative, and passionate about solving problems.
Consequences of the Shortage of Cybersecurity Professionals
With several organizations reporting that their cybersecurity team is not large enough for the size of their organization, the consequences are far-reaching. According to a report, security jobs are one of the most in-demand tech jobs through 2029. As the skills and employment gap grows, the limited pool of cybersecurity experts will get burned out and have difficulty keeping up. This will directly impact the data tied to the business and its customers and make it extremely vulnerable to attack.
- Defenses are down, and businesses will continue to be hit by attacks and lose money due to downtime, fixing systems, carrying out workarounds, and other reactive actions.
- Breaches are becoming mainstream, and personal information will continue to be stolen. Businesses will have a tough time rebuilding their brand and customer base.
- The rate of attacks is increasing. With the lack of security professionals, cybersecurity jobs will continue to go unfilled, making the gap even wider.
Addressing the Shortage: In-House vs. MSSPs
The low supply and high demand for cybersecurity professionals is compelling companies to get extremely creative and flexible when attracting recruits. From better perks to growth, training, certification opportunities, and more. But despite offering an enticing salary and incentives, it is still difficult to find the perfect candidate.
Professional recruiters can help find a qualified pool of cybersecurity professionals. But even that can take a lot of time and effort. Plus, after spending all that time, there’s no guarantee you will find someone — or worse, you hire someone, but the person leaves after a short time because a better offer comes along. This can be especially frustrating if you spend a significant amount of money and energy training the individual.
Because of the challenges associated with finding, training, and retaining cybersecurity professionals, companies are increasingly taking a different approach. Instead of hiring in-house cybersecurity professionals, they partner with Managed Security Service Providers or MSSPs.
Like in-house cybersecurity professionals, MSSPs can install security software, set up firewalls, and implement other basic security measures to protect your company’s applications, devices, and network from security threats. However, MSSPs have the time and expertise to do much more. For example, they can provide advanced security services such as:
- Deploying, configuring, and managing security technologies such as identity access management (IAM) solutions.
- Developing and implementing security solutions to protect data, applications, and systems hosted in a public, private, or hybrid cloud.
- Performing vulnerability scans to determine systems at risk for known exploits.
- Providing an automated security information and event management (SIEM) service that collects, aggregates, and analyzes log data produced in multiple locations to identify threats.
- Detecting and tracking anomalies (e.g., unusual behaviors, trends) in networks, systems, and user actions that might indicate the presence of a threat.
- Auditing for compliance with regulations and standards such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).
MSSPs possess the necessary time, expertise, and tools to deliver advanced security services. These tools, often expensive and complex, are typically inaccessible to many companies.
MSSPs: A Logical Choice for Addressing the Cybersecurity Skills Gap
Until the cybersecurity shortage is over, companies across sectors will compete for the few cybersecurity professionals who are available in the market.
Fortunately, MSSPs can provide advanced security services and a robust cybersecurity model to protect your company’s IT assets. These skilled providers are competent in understanding the inner workings and interdependencies of all the components in your IT environment (e.g., hardware, applications, networks) and how to protect them.
Take control of your IT security with Managed Cybersecurity Services today!