{"id":88199,"date":"2018-04-04T16:22:24","date_gmt":"2018-04-04T23:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/securingtomorrow.mcafee.com\/?p=88199"},"modified":"2025-08-25T23:24:46","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T06:24:46","slug":"teen-gaming-cybersecurity-specialist-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/family-safety\/teen-gaming-cybersecurity-specialist-training\/","title":{"rendered":"Teen Gaming, Cybersecurity Specialist Training"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many of us parents have a love\/hate relationship with teen gaming. While it seems to cast a spell over many kids and lure them into a trance, gaming does provide some quite welcome \u2018time-out\u2019 for all family members! But I can honestly say that in my household, disputes over allocated \u2018Xbox\u2019 time would be by far the most common variety. And they can drive me insane!!<\/p>\n

Now new research from McAfee may just get me rethinking my often negative attitude to gaming. The Winning The Game report investigates the key challenges facing the IT Security industry in the ongoing fight against cyber threats. Just under 1000 cybersecurity managers across the US, UK, Germany, Singapore, Australia and Japan took part in the research which found that gamers may play a very big role in keeping cybercriminals at bay!<\/p>\n

The Cybersecurity Skills Shortage<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Worldwide the cybersecurity industry currently has a zero-percent unemployment rate. Many experts predict that this will remain the case until at least 2021. While this is great if you are job hunting, it isn\u2019t great news for Government departments, corporations and businesses.<\/a> The increasing number of cyberattacks means these organisations are struggling to find cybersecurity professionals to help deal with these threats. Which is ultimately putting a lot of us at risk.<\/p>\n

In addition to the skills shortage, many IT professionals believe cybersecurity defences are under unprecedented levels of attack. With malware, ransomware, sophisticated advanced threats and modes of attack, many professionals see the cyberthreat landscape as more complex than ever. Nearly half of the cybersecurity professionals who participated \u00a0in the survey expressed concern that they will find it difficult or impossible to keep up with the increase and\/or complexity of threats over the next year.<\/p>\n

So, amid these constantly evolving cyberthreats the pressure is on to find a solution to the skills crisis.<\/p>\n

Gamers Could Be the Answer<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Well apparently the long list of skills gamers acquire while learning their craft are precisely those required by cybersecurity professionals. Whether it\u2019s cracking systems, avoiding counter attacks or deciphering codes, these talents are very easily transferrable to a security professional role.<\/p>\n

Many of us parents might struggle to believe that the hours our teens have spent playing games could in fact have set them up for a career in cybersecurity. But the skills learnt during these \u2018training\u2019 hours \u2013 including understanding how to approach adversaries, perseverance and logic \u2013 are exactly what sets gamers apart \u2018from the pack\u2019. The statistics from the report confirm that.<\/p>\n