Cyber attacks: The biggest global cyber threat
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Cyber attacks: The biggest global cyber threat

Cyber attacks

Cybersecurity is at the top of the agenda for many governments and enterprises around the world, as an unpalatable reality of modern-day life. They are likely to impact all areas of our lives, from finance, communication, and healthcare to transportation. According to Cybersecurity Ventures, cybercrime will cost the world $8 trillion by 2023.

Cybercrime costs the global economy billions of dollars each year, and massive data breaches can compromise our ability to operate as a modern society. Cybersecurity is essential to defending our nations, economies, infrastructure, and individuals against online threats.

Understanding the cybersecurity skill gap and its impact

As organisations compete for the scarce talent available, cybersecurity salaries continue to rise, implying that organisations cannot afford to hire as many cybersecurity workers.

According to a World Economic Forum survey, 59% of businesses would find it difficult to respond to a cybersecurity incident due to a skill shortage. Data from 2022 revealed that the problem is worsening, with the workforce gap increasing by 26.2% over 2021.

As a result, businesses, government agencies, educational institutions, and other organisations have weaker security than they should, putting all of their employees, customers, and constituents at risk of data breaches, privacy violations, financial fraud, and other negative consequences.

Also read: Indian banking sector at the leading edge of cyber-attacks

Ways organisations can address the cybersecurity skills gap

There is no way to close the cybersecurity skills gap overnight, but organisations can begin making progress today by doing the things listed below:

Reach out to underserved communities: Prioritise outreach to women. Make certain that your recruitment and hiring practises take diversity into account. Consider paying for internships.

Develop skills primarily in-house rather than by hiring experts: Organisations can tap into a much larger pool of workers if they relax job requirements and instead plan on building cyber skills internally by providing new employees with training, education, and certification support to help them get up to speed.

Help your existing talent: Burnout is prevalent in many organisations today. It’s easy for anyone unhappy to leave the organisation and find a better opportunity elsewhere, especially when there is such a shortage of skilled people. However, critical cybersecurity requirements must be met.

Therefore, to close this enormous gap, it is necessary to first understand why the cybersecurity skills shortage exists and persists.