Cyber talent shortage to worsen, report predicts

The coming five years could continue to highlight gaps in the cyber talent pool, it has been claimed.

The global shortage of talent in cyber security is only going to get worse as technology continues to progress.

This is according to the new Global Snapshot: The CISO in 2020 report by search firm Marlin Hawk, which found 62 per cent of chief information security officers believe they will be affected by this issue over the next five years.

Some 66 per cent of respondents to the survey globally and 61 per cent in the UK reported struggling to recruit senior talent, with many blaming a lack of technical knowledge, a lack of experience or failure to achieve the correct cultural fit.

Ron Green of Mastercard, one of the global firms that was interviewed as part of the study, said machine automation may have to step in if the gap in recruitment is not met.

 "The humans that are in our security operations centres are being overwhelmed with things they have to monitor and you can't simply keep putting in more people because there aren't enough people already," he pointed out.

Last summer, chief information security officer at industrial automation company Rockwell Automation Dawn Cappelli told Forbes she has already been using advanced cyber security technology after finding it difficult to locate specialist security personnel.