Owing largely to some high profile hacks on UK businesses the specialist sector of cyber security now accounts for 14% of all IT roles as companies scramble to protect the integrity of their databases. Procorre, which specialises in placing individuals with the specific set of skills needed to defend against dedicated cyberattacks, among other highly trained professionals, explains as part of a series of posts on Tumblr why the number of vacancies has increased over the past year.
Growth in Employment
An increase in cyber security jobs are indicative of the positive outlook for employment in general throughout 2016. Two thousand delegates were interviewed by the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey at the start of the year, with a focus on job growth over the next twelve months. Of those surveyed, the vast majority admitted that they were going to look at opening new vacancies and hiring new staff rather than begin downsizing this year.
The 2000 executives that took part in the survey represented a cross-section of businesses from multiple industries. Candidates looking for jobs in finance or banking will be encouraged by the high volume of positive responses from that sector, as will those seeking positions in transport and storage. However, the biggest growth area predicted by the Manpower Survey was by far in IT. Both specialist contractors and analysts looking for full time work will benefit from the growing number of companies that are bolstering their cyber security.
Threat of Cyberattacks
Between 2014 and 2016, several major businesses and organisations became victims of serious security breaches that compromised the data of millions of customers. eBay was first, and the breach of the biggest online auction site resulted in the company asking 145m users to change their personal details and log in information after hackers stole the sensitive data. Sony was also rendered helpless by a cyberattack where hackers stole information from over 40,000 employees as well as information about upcoming films that were being released by the electronics and entertainment giant.
Later that year, security experts exposed Heartbleed, which was a serious gap in the encryption technology that thousands of websites implement to protect their users. The problems with Heartbleed persist as even after affected websites had been fixed, there was no knowing how far the data had been compromised, if at all. In any event, the Heartbleed incident stands as just one example of how cyber security is evolving all the time and more specialists are needed to prevent major breaches in the future.
The next major security breaches to hit the headlines came in 2015, not only did hackers steal data from millions of TalkTalk customers including their names and home addresses but JD Wetherspoons and controversial site Ashley Madison were targeted too. In fact, TalkTalk’s cyber security was compromised three times in 2015 only exposing how easy it is to exploit a company that has yet to improve its infrastructure in response to the high tech methods of hackers.
Fighting Back Against Hackers
In the first instance, hackers gain access to the sensitive information that users entrust to a company in order to use its services. For UK businesses at least, they have to adhere to the Data Protection Act (1998) that states it is their responsibility to ensure that any data they collect from customers is always protected. Allowing hackers to steal this information not only knocks the confidence of any future customers but also opens companies up to prosecution.
The importance of effective cyber security cannot be underestimated, and with cyberattacks becoming more frequent, it comes as little surprise to see that this this is emerging as one of 2016’s fastest growing areas of the job market. Secure data collection is of the utmost importance, and with potential EU directives being introduced later this year, failure to provide adequate protection will result in fines of up to €100m or 5% profit.
Potential candidates for high profile cyber security analysis will be have to demonstrate a number of skills that go beyond just proficient programming knowledge. For example, to prevent hackers from getting in to a company’s network in the first place, you have to be able to spot the gaps that they could exploit. Doing so requires a level of creativity that is on par with those you are trying to stop, if you can spot a gap before they can then that will be half the job.
Looking to the Future
Stricter legislation looms overhead, the previous two years were rife with high profile cyberattacks and hackers are becoming more sophisticated in their techniques and their goals. The future of cyber security will start with larger and more effective, creative security analysts that can compete with new hacking methods and help provide a network of secure information that users can rely on.
Procorre 