News Recap: Millennials and Cybersecurity

By | August 11th, 2016|Industry News|

cybersecurityThis week, we’re talking about one of the most important topics in cybersecurity: the global cybersecurity professional gap and how computer-savvy millennials can help to fill it. Here’s a quick recap of the news surrounding this important issue, including research from our friends over at the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA).

The Cybersecurity Professional Gap
Today’s interconnected world creates greater opportunities for cyber attacks. As a result, the demand for cybersecurity professionals has grown enormously. Unfortunately, there are not enough qualified professionals to meet that demand. A study from Raytheon found that 79% of businesses in the U.S. experienced a recent cybersecurity incident, but 82% are unable to fill their open IT jobs. The study also found that while there are only 65,362 Certified Information Security Professionals (CISSP) in the U.S., companies posted almost 50,000 job requests for CISSP holders.

The consequences of this gap are already being felt. NCSA explains that without the proper security team, organizations are exposed to a greater risk for loss in profitability, brand reputation and intellectual property. According to a report from Intel Security, 71% of those who participated say they are already seeing quantifiable damage to their organizations. Current cybersecurity professionals are more likely to experience burnout, and their limited time is often spent responding to pressing cyber incidents rather than defending against them in the first place.

Can Millennials Fill The Gap?
Organizations and governmental task forces globally are hoping millennials can start to fill the deficit. However, lack of awareness is still a huge barrier. The Raytheon study found that 52% of millennial women and 39% of millennial men say they were never made aware of computer science programs in school. Additionally, 77% of young women in the U.S. say no high school guidance or career counselor talked about cybersecurity as a career, and 67% of men said the same.

Fortunately, it’s not too late for the millennial generation to correct the problem. The same Raytheon study also found that 40% of survey respondents were interested in learning more about careers in security. While millennials already in the workforce may have a more difficult time switching career fields, helpful Quora users have shared some tips on how people can begin to educate themselves. Additionally, the current pool of late millennials and college students are great candidates to begin training in the cybersecurity market.

Join the conversation and stay up to date on cybersecurity news by following CSID on FacebookTwitter or LinkedIn.

News Recap: Studies Show that Gen Y May Break Restrictive BYOD Policies

By | November 1st, 2013|Uncategorized|

blog 10.31.13Fortinet recently surveyed 3,200 “Gen Y” employees ages 21 to 32 about device policies at work, and found that many are willing to break work policies when it comes to accessing personal devices or storing sensitive data on personal cloud storage. Respondents were surveyed on several topics, including the use of mobile devices at work, personal cloud storage habits and security attacks on personal devices.

When asked about banning the use of personal devices at work, 51 percent of respondents were “prepared to contravene any policy banning the use of personal device at work or for work purposes,” Tim Wilson reports in Dark Reading. On the topic of secure cloud storage, respondents claimed they used cloud accounts for both personal and work use. eWeek reporter Nathan Eddy said that “89 percent of respondents had a personal account for at least one cloud storage service with DropBox.” Of the people with personal accounts, Eddy reports, seventy admit to using their accounts for work purposes, and of this group:

  • 12 percent store work passwords using these accounts
  • 16 percent store financial information
  • 22 percent store critical private documents such as contracts/business plans
  • 1/3 store customer data

John Maddison, vice president of marketing for Fortinet thought some of the findings were alarming. “It’s worrying to see policy contravention so high and so sharply on the rise, as well as the high instances of Generation Y users being victims of cyber-crime,” Maddison said in Dark Reading. “On the positive side, however, 88 percent of the respondents accept that they have an obligation to understand the security risks posed by using their own devices. Educating employees on the threat landscape and its possible impact is another key aspect for ensuring an organization’s IT security.”

How can businesses work with Gen. Y employees to ensure they are practicing safe habits, without restricting personal use of devices/cloud services? What are some best practices for BYOD policies? Let us know what you think on Twitter and Facebook, and be sure to check out our Tumblr for the latest industry news stories.

News Recap: Recent Study Shows Millennials Not Interested in Cyber Security Jobs

By | October 21st, 2013|Uncategorized|

Millennials Blog PicRaytheon recently found that millennials are uninterested careers in cyber security: less than one-quarter of the young adults surveyed showed interest in the industry at all. Additionally, Dark Reading reports, 82 percent of the millennials surveyed stated “no high school teacher or guidance counselor ever mentioned to them the idea of a career in cyber security.” The survey includes responses from 1,000 American adults ages 18 to 26.

As cyber security jobs are projected to increase 22% by 2020, some are worried that there will not be enough workers to fill open positions. Jordan Wiens, Raytheon engineering lead for information security, told Christina Jedra at USA Today that “action is needed to fill these jobs and ensure protection for individuals, businesses, and the country as a whole.”

“There’s a point where we need to get serious. Otherwise, we’re going to be in trouble,” Wiens said. “The way the Internet has grown up, security was sort of an afterthought, which we’re regretting right now.”

Michael Kaiser, executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance, expressed to the Wall Street Journal that it’s important to help young professionals find interest in a career in cyber security.

“Given that we need to add thousands of cyber security professionals to the workforce in the coming years, the data shows we have a long way to go in engaging young people in the idea of a career path in cyber security,” said Kaiser. “We have to work together to ensure that young people are prepared to use technology safely, securely, ethically and productively and are aware of the interesting and rewarding jobs available protecting the Internet.”

Despite low interest in a career in cyber security, the majority (86 percent) of the young adults surveyed agreed “it’s important to increase cyber security awareness programs in the workforce and in formal education programs” (Dark Reading).

How can the government, businesses and educational institutions increase interest in and awareness about cyber security careers? What is the importance of growing the nation’s cyber security workforce? Please let us know what your thoughts are on Twitter and Facebook, and stay updated on the latest security news on our Tumblr.

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