THE OUTLOOK : CYBERSECURITY CAREERS
What Does a Cybersecurity Professional Look Like ? Probably Just Like You .
With millions of unfilled cybersecurity jobs , Joanna Burkey , HP ’ s Chief Information Security Officer , explains why organizations that go all in recruiting diverse employees will stay competitive .
IVEN MY ROLE ASSESSING cybersecurity risks at HP ,
What might surprise you , however , is a part of my job that will continue to be challenging long after the pandemic has passed — bringing in talent to stay ahead of these threats . Allow me to bust a popular myth : that cybersecurity professionals must be technical wunderkinds , hoodie-clad prodigies who can crack a password in six seconds with time to spare for an energy drink . Far from it .
While highly technical roles are key , on average they make up less than a third of a healthy cybersecurity organization . Just look at my own career trajectory : I come from a technical background , but as a software engineer , not a security researcher . I have expertise in divergent areas such as product strategy , security evangelism , business development , and engineering management . And I use these skills every day as a leader at HP .
With an estimated
3.5 million cybersecurity jobs globally that are likely to go unfilled in 2021 , there ’ s much more room under the “ big tent ” of this industry than people think . To be successful in the future , we need to invite people who have expertise not just in technical roles , but also in risk management , business analysis , sales , deal support , and even marketing and communications .
That means opening up to mid- or late-career employees , people who ’ ve pivoted from other industries , historically underserved populations , workers with non-traditional degrees , and those who were forced out of their jobs by the seismic economic shifts from the pandemic .
As the world has become more digital — augmented by the explosion of data and capabilities offered by advances in technology such as 5G , the cloud , open source code , and infrastructure-as-a-service — there are now very few areas that do not touch cybersecurity in some way . That ’ s a little scary , but it ’ s also a terrific opportunity .
Chief information security officers ( CISOs ) and their organizations are increasingly called on to be business partners across the enterprise due to many parallel factors :
• Customers are more educated and discerning about security .
• Business partners want to feel confident that B2B connections are safe .
• The global regulatory landscape continues to get more complex .
• Each piece in the supply chain is aware of the interconnected nature of its operations — and inherent risks .
Together , these trends mean that a CISO and their organization have to be aware of what is going on “ out in the business ” by fostering lateral movements from other departments in and out of the cybersecurity organization .
Similarly , there is also a need for an array of experience levels . Just because
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