Capgemini: Cybersecurity skills gap widens to 25%

According a new report from Capgemini’s Digital Transformation Institute, the cybersecurity skills gap has widened, highlighting the urgent need for education, recruitment and retention strategies within the industry.

The report, Cybersecurity talent: The big gap in cyber protection, reveals that cybersecurity skills hold the highest digital skills gap of 25%, compared to the 21%-point gap for innovation experts, and 13% for analytics professionals.

“The cybersecurity skills gap has a very real effect on organizations in every sector,” says Mike Turner, Chief Operating Officer of Capgemini’s Cybersecurity Global Service Line.

“Spending months rather than weeks looking for suitable candidates is not only inefficient it also leaves organizations dangerously exposed to rising incidents of cybercrime. Business leaders must urgently rethink how they recruit and retain talent, particularly if they wish to maximize the benefits from investment in digital transformation.”

See also:

• Cisco: 53% of companies surveyed lost $500,000 from cyberattacks last year

• Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook all cybersecurity-active this week

• Gartner: Public sector CIOs to increase spending on cloud, cybersecurity and analytics in 2018

Further, this is only expected to grow over the next few years, with 72% of the 1,200 Senior Executives and front-line employees surveyed predicting that there will be high demand for cybersecurity in 2020, compared to 68% currently.

Speaking to Gigabit previously, CTIO of Capgemini Lanny Cohen, revealed that digital skill gaps across technology-centric sectors are worsening largely due to the lack of responsibility taken by firms and governments in preparing for the long term:

“Companies struggle with their innovation efforts because they fail to equip themselves with the relevant capabilities, talent, and resources. To shift an organisation's innovation dial, a concerted effort needs to be made in five dimensions critical to innovation maturity; ecosystem, environment, governance, culture, and process.”

In recognition of this, the report has outlined four priorities in overcoming the cybersecurity skills gap and gaining a competitive advantage over others.

1. Assess how well security is integrated across the organisation and the general culture of cybersecurity.
2. Maximise the existing and unrecognised cybersecurity skills that lie within the workforce.
3. Think beyond normal recruitment strategies, looking common industry-centric traits and skills in completely different job roles.
4. Strengthen retention by engaging existing employees by offering benefits such as flexible working arrangements, training programs and career progression.

For more information, see the full report from Capgemini, Cybersecurity talent: The big gap in cyber protection.