The Cyber Talent Gap and Cybersecurity Professionalizing

Introduction

There is no doubt that the cybersecurity talent gap is taking a toll on private and public organizations as researchers assert that in 2017 there was a shortage of two million cybersecurity professions (Zantua, Dupuis, & Endicott-Popovsky, 2015). There is a multitude of surveys, reports, and studies indicating a shortage of cybersecurity professionals, which is a global problem, inciting extensive recruitment projects and academic partnerships to increase the number of cybersecurity professionals (Cobb, 2016). The tumultuous cybersecurity threat environment coupled with the mounting cost of cybercrime is forecasting a cost of $400B a year (Spidalieri, 2016). The continuous development of new technology encourages malicious actors to engage in nefarious activities, which increases uncertainty in cybersecurity (Cobb, 2016; Dutta, Geiger, & Lanvin, 2015; Keely, 2017; Spidalieri, 2016). Keely (2017) indicates that phishing, spearphishing, ransomware attacks, social engineering, and malware are primary threat vectors used by malicious cyber actors. Organizations are struggling to find the correct balance between technology, processes, and people as malicious cyber actors have the strategic advantage in executing attacks because cybersecurity defense continues as a reactive mechanism to nefarious activities (Henshel, Cains, Hoffman, & Kelley, 2015). Organizations suffer from the shortage of cybersecurity professionals, technological vulnerabilities and dependency, and increasing response times between the attack and initial response (Spidalieri, 2016). Cobb (2016) asserts that the shortage of cybersecurity professionals globally could exceed one million; consequently, resulting in the weakening of security preparedness and distrust in information security capabilities. According to Cobb (2016), the uncertainty surrounding the cybersecurity professional shortage requires empirical research to assess the problems holistically. Professional associations are centrally positioned within the cybersecurity nexus to lead and strategically identify critical skills shortages, the professionalization of cybersecurity, discover innovative pipelines, and compose an accurate assessment of the talent shortage. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the significant role of professional associations in addressing the talent shortage in cybersecurity.