RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – IBM and Duke Energy are part of a new initiative to help companies find more cybersecurity workers with a shortage of talent growing and expected to reach 500,000 by 2021.
With cybersecurity threats growing, the two firms and 13 others – including Apple, Verizon, Google and Faebook – are joining with the Aspen Cybersecurity Group in Washington, D.C. on efforts to improve recruiting and training. Apsen’s own research says the shortage of workers will reach 500,000 in the near future. Other analysis, the group notes, says there may be as many as 3 million unfilled jobs.
According to tech firm Norton, data breaches continue to grow:
- 2019 data breaches: 4 billion records breached so far
- 3,800: The number of publicly disclosed breaches.
- 4.1 billion: The number of records exposed.
- +54%: Increase in number of reported breaches vs. first six months of 2018.
IBM chair and CEO Ginni Rometty is co-chair of the effort.
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“By adopting these principles and scaling educational programs where skills matter more than degrees, businesses working together will create new economic opportunity in our communities and address cybercrime, one of the biggest threats facing the public and private sectors today,” she said in a statement.
The initiative’s focus includes three key points:
- Widen the aperture of candidate pipelines, for example by expanding recruitment focus beyond applicants with four-year degrees or using non-gender biased job descriptions.
- Revitalize job postings to be engaging and to focus on the core requirements; don’t “over-spec” the requirements.
- Make career paths understandable and accessible to current employees and job seekers, referencing models like the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Cybersecurity Workforce Framework where applicable.
The Aspen Group includes 38 business executives, researchers and former government officials.
“For many years, the cybersecurity community has been struggling to build a more robust, inclusive cyber workforce pipeline,” said John Carlin, Chair of the Aspen Institute’s Cyber & Technology Program. “With these commitments, some of the nation’s largest employers will demonstrate the relatively simple measures that others can take to expand their search for cybersecurity talent. For example, present hiring practices can overlook potential cybersecurity experts who do not come from a traditional computer science background. We want to change that.”
