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alternatives to these highly-sought after
workers becomes ever more pronounced.
To do this, recruiters need to thoroughly
understand the job role and develop
comprehensive, succinct position
descriptions when scouting for fresh talent.
An important aspect of this is deciding
between what an individual can be
trained to know, versus knowledge they
must possess as basic competencies, and
therefore open opportunities for candidates
who may not be highly skilled or technical.
John McCumber,
Director of
Cybersecurity
Advocacy, (ISC) 2
organisations must break down barriers and
diversify their recruitment efforts beyond
well-versed, experienced candidates and
recognise the value in training non-technical
employees, students and fresh graduates.
In the UAE, young adults represent a
substantial talent pool from which to choose.
According to a survey commissioned by
Raytheon, Forcepoint and the US National
Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), youth in
the UAE are considerably more likely to
choose a career in cybersecurity than their
peers elsewhere in the world. The survey
also discovered that the country has been
successful in engaging most youth to try
activities that would let them test their
interest and aptitude for cybersecurity
careers, which is an encouraging indication
for the industry in this region.
Looking beyond specialised
security talent
As per the results of our 2017 Global
Information Security Workforce Study, nearly
two-thirds of respondents (63%) said their
organisations have too few cybersecurity
workers. This means that businesses will be
woefully understaffed in the years to come,
unless hiring managers change the trend of
buying experience.
It is necessary for recruiters to challenge the
myth that the best security professionals are
www.intelligentcio.com
those who have specialised backgrounds and
training. With job mobility being as high as it
is for experienced security staff – nearly 46%
of professionals are contacted at least once
weekly by recruiters and one in five (21%)
are contacted every day – the need to find
“
RECRUITERS
NEED TO
THOROUGHLY
UNDERSTAND
THE JOB ROLE
AND DEVELOP
COMPREHENSIVE,
SUCCINCT
POSITION
DESCRIPTIONS
WHEN SCOUTING
FOR FRESH
TALENT.
This approach can translate into long-term
benefits for the business. Not only does it
offer career advancement opportunities
for employees, but also translates into
significant savings for the management,
as giving employees a skills upgrade can
often prove to be more cost-effective than
recruiting seasoned professionals.
The industry moving forward
To ensure preparedness for a future in
which cyberthreats become ever more
common, companies must develop a solid
understanding of the investment required to
ensure resilience.
Gartner predicts worldwide enterprise
security spending will total US$96.3
billion (roughly AED353 billion) in 2018,
an increase of 8% from last year. New
regulations (such as the EU’s General Data
Protection Regulation, GDPR), shifting buyer
mindset, awareness of emerging threats
and increasing digitisation are some of
the factors that are driving this increase
in investment. Developing robust security
capabilities are necessary as we move
further into the golden age of threat. Even
though the dynamics of vulnerabilities
and threats have evolved rapidly, the basic
elements of risk management have not
changed and businesses must recognise
that people are the critical component to
keep us ahead of the curve.
As we move into a complex and unrelenting
cyberthreat landscape, it is essential to
understand exactly what these threats
are, recognise vulnerabilities, develop an
understanding of what assets and missions
are critical to the organisation and equip
security teams with the skills necessary to
meet these challenges. n
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