Greater exec focus on cyber workforce gap needed

Company executives have been urged to prioritize addressing the cybersecurity talent gap crisis in an effort to better combat cybersecurity threats, Fortune reports. Open cybersecurity jobs around the world have increased by 350% from 2013 to 2021, with the vacancies still expected to be unfilled within the next five years, according to Cybersecurity Ventures' Boardroom Cybersecurity 2022 Report sponsored by Secureworks. Such a talent gap is concerning amid the trillions of losses arising from cybercrime damages, said Secureworks President and CEO Wendy Thomas. "Think of the growing gap as a dam. If small holes start to appear, the risk that the dam will fail increases exponentially. As hackers continue to successfully grow their e-crime businesses, it further erodes our collective wall of defense," said Thomas, who called on company CEOs to rebalance cyber investments into employee education, attack detection, and incident response efforts. Meanwhile, Cybersecurity Ventures founder Steve Morgan added that individuals with cybersecurity experience, such as chief information security officers, should be included in every midsize to large enterprise's boards. Cybersecurity should also be tackled with the same seriousness as profit and loss discussions among board members, Morgan said.