Why Closing Cybersecurity Skill Gap Topmost Priority For IT In 2020

Industries across avenues are witnessing an extraordinary cybersecurity skills gap. It is estimated by ISC2 that there will be 4 Mn vacant cybersecurity posts by 2021. The recent years have stood witness to a series of high-profile cyber-chasms and security breaches which lay bare before us top-ranked classified data, leading to a multi-million dollar worth of losses.

The importance of cybersecurity in such volatile and tremulous times cannot be stressed enough. Every day, organizations cope with and suffer due to the dearth of adept cybersecurity personnel and the mandatory expertise needed to counteract cyber attacks.

Even if the breach is realised, the counterforce teams are often found to be lacking in both experience and knowhow. The want of readiness and risk mitigation stares us right in the face. Therefore, it is extremely important that the cybersecurity team in any organization has the required experience in addressing such threats.

State of the art cybersecurity providers nowadays edifies and empower company security teams by actively engaging them in a simulated hyper-realistic cyber-onslaught within a virtual SOC. Perhaps, the inclusion of such novel techniques will impart experiential learning and prepare young professionals to deal with worst-case situations using the “muscle memory” they develop with regular practice.

Times Of Uncertainty

Our present deficiencies may very well become our future incapacity. The competency of contemporary cybersecurity ecosystem comes under serious questioning as across the multiple industrial vistas, cybersecurity remains largely disparate, owing to the stark contrast that arises between the various fronts.

There are those who can tackle the plethora of cyber threats that always loom in close proximity and there are also those who cannot. The reasons are multiple and many-fold in nature.

Bucking Up

They range from the absence of qualified and knowledgeable personnel who can effectively neutralize such cyber hazards to the absence of capital required for funding the various cybersecurity measures needed to fight the good fight.

Having zeroed upon the entrepreneurial shortcomings of companies in the face of cyberattacks, it is pertinent to chart a feasible course of remedial action, if the companies are supposed to survive and thrive in the coming future. As technology surges and mushrooms beyond imagination, so does its dark side.

It is well accepted across cybersecurity legions around the globe that come 2021, the severity and volume of such offences will only amplify.

A thoroughly consummate, vigilant and technologically adept cybersecurity team is a must for every business that aspires to safeguard its resource content from potential cybercriminals.

Know-How To Know-How

One of the most visible problems that companies face today is the lack of technological acknowledgement. There is an irrefutable shortage of consummate optimization and leveraging of the new age cybersecurity systems in the face of such attacks.

The popular notions of counter-threat intelligence and attenuation often fall short of exercising its full potential, when it comes to the actual task of risk-diminishing. Either the companies seek customary anti-threat content from two or more cyber service providers or may seek comfort by aligning with an industry conglomerate.

A constant technological advancement and progressive innovation replete with practical training that enables cybersecurity specialists in countering and superseding cybercriminals is an apparent need of the hour for businesses around the world.

Guardians Of The Gate

Both the conventional measures often fall short of success on the realistic plane. The need of the hour instead highlights the importance of utilizing the data content to one’s own advantage. This involves incessant monitoring of the fortifications surrounding the figurative castle walls for any conspicuous or anomalous entities. No wonder, it is a perennial 24/7 activity that requires the utmost awareness and the science of data evaluation and prediction.

It’s akin to having a competent sentinel guarding the gates of your house so that no miscreant may enter and cause mischief.

Why India Can?

India for that matter though leagues behind its western compatriots in the matters of cybersecurity, demonstrates overwhelming potential in combating cybercrimes and establishing itself as a credible cybersecurity hub. Due to its incredible amount of trained and skilled human resource capital, the country through efficient training, talent upskilling and knowledge optimisation can readily become a cybersecurity powerhouse, crafting countless standard and tailor-made solutions for all kinds of cyber threats.

India, verily speaking has enough manpower and technological quotient to have a workable and successful anti-cyberware model that can detect and disengage prospective threats and dangers.

Interestingly enough, the global business frontier at risk globally from direct and indirect cyberattacks as per Accenture report is $5.2 Tn which is a tad more than India’s targeted growth trajectory of becoming a five trillion-dollar economy by the year 2025. The situation, alarming as it qualifies for an immediate and effective addressal.   

Takes Two To Waltz

Gaining technological proficiency and an in-depth understanding of the adversarial tactics and one’s own processes is pertinent to managing and mollifying the ever-glaring threat of cyber breaches and data-thefts. This involves comprehending of the company’s assets, technologies in place, their applications, financial investments and their returns, their exit points, third-party risks.

This is a great opportunity for IT firms to capture the ripe global cybersecurity market and generate a steady revenue stream. In-depth scrutiny of all associated and interloping factors vital to business operations is essential to gauging and dismantling all potential threats.

The Proverbial Chinks In The Armour

The dearth of even a single of the above factors can render the valuable resources of any company susceptible to data fiends and cyber miscreants. Without a conscious profundity and comprehensive expertise regarding the nature of data, companies are most likely to endure the horrors of cybercrime without a shield or protective layer.

The General Counsel Of Wizards

The central most important professional in any company’s cybersecurity team is the GC or the General Counsel. It is the duty of the general counsel to make sure that the executive c-suite layer and the company board members are well prepared for the unavoidable cyber-violations that constantly lurk in wait, perambulating around the company’s peripheral walls.

The GC is your go-to guy, your rescuer, and your knight in shining armour when it comes to combating cybercrimes.

Fighting The Good Fight

The primary activity of the GC is initiating tabletop exercises and cybersecurity team drills to match up with all possible cyber attacks. The GC should also warrant that the organizational machinery is in accordance with local and international legislation regarding data, the new oil. No wonder, it is held in such exalted reverence by both securers and stealers alike.

The GC should be a tech and innovation wizard with the ability to adapt and acclimatize as per the prevailing conditions and must have the digital foresight and experience that is required in overcoming high-profile cyber strikes and data thefts.

Besides investing in cybersecurity team training and upskilling, the companies should further motivate a pan-organizational philosophy of assiduous learning and knowledge acquisition amongst its workforce. Understaffed and overwhelmed personnel often complain about the lack of the latest technological upgrades and resource revamping. This causes firms to lag behind their cyber perpetrators.

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