Demand of security professionals to increase due to Internet of Things

In the next five years, the Internet of Things, the increasing connectivity of everyday devices, will only heighten the demand for security specialists, according to a recent statement by Cisco managers.

As more Things become connected to the Internet, both critical infrastructure and data will become even more difficult to defend if the number of security professionals doesn’t rise. A deficit of security people in the field is already a direct threat to numerous organizations, according to a study done by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, (ISC)2.

At 8 percent, unemployment rate in IT is less than half of the general U.S. unemployment rate. In high demand areas such as information security, unemployment rate can be as low as 1.5 percent, making it tough for companies to find the individuals with the skillsets they need. An organization, CyberWatch West, combats this issue, having made it their mission to “increase the quantity and quality of the Cybersecurity workforce throughout the western United States.”

The 2014 Annual Security Report by Cisco estimates that worldwide, there is a shortage of about 1 million workers in the space. However, the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium has assessed that there are about 300,000 information security staff needed to preserve enterprises’ systems.

Cisco’s study further asserts that the demand for security workers is not only ever increasing, but their skillsets need to widen to encompass data analysis in order to combat the varying types of attacks.

But the need for security doesn’t end with an increase in professionals. Sujata Ramamoorthy, director for global information security for Cisco’s Threat Response, Intelligence and Development (TRIAD) group, told eWeek: “We need to advance the skill set of the entire community, not just the network engineers or security people, but users of the critical infrastructure that nations use. In the end, we want everyone to improve their security knowledge, and apply it in their jobs.”

If you are looking for the right information security profession to add to your team in this ultra-competitive market, or if you are a security pro looking for the next step in your career, contact us at Tiro Security, a leading provider of information security jobs in Los Angeles.

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