The Role Partners Play in the Cyberskills Shortage

McAfee

Aug 01, 2016

2 MIN READ

This blog was written by Richard Steranka.

Last week, McAfee launched the Hacking the Skills Shortage Report in partnership with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The report, which outlines the talent shortage crisis impacting the cybersecurity industry, unveiled some interesting statistics and unorthodox opportunities for channel partners (see infographic).

One thing the report made clear is the cyberskills shortage does direct and measurable damage. According to one in three respondents, a shortage of skills makes their organizations more desirable hacking targets. One in four say insufficient cybersecurity staff strength has damaged their organization’s reputation and led directly to the loss of proprietary data through a cyberattack.

According to the report, high value skills are in critically short supply, the most scarce being intrusion detection, secure software development and attack mitigation. While the talent shortage must be addressed, there lies an opportunity for the channel ecosystem to not only resell and provide professional services but to build out cutting edge Managed Security Services that leverage the latest protection, detection and correction technologies and processes. The report reveals that because of the talent deficit, more than 60% of survey respondents work at organizations that already outsource at least some cybersecurity work. The primary capabilities that were noted as outsourced in the report are risk assessment and mitigation, network monitoring and access management and repair of compromised systems.

Furthermore, according to Allied Research, World Managed Security Services Market – Opportunities and Forecasts, 2013 – 2020, the emergence of advanced and sophisticated attacks have been significantly impacting businesses in monetary terms. This growing challenge is leading them to look for better options to manage their data security like managed security services as these models have proven to be a cost-effective and efficient method to monitor or manage security infrastructure.

By bolstering managed security services that leverage the power of robust security technologies with predictive analytics and automation, partners, resellers, MSSPs, MSPs and distributors can take an active role in mitigating risks from next generation cyber threats during a challenging time for the industry.