Demand for skilled security experts on rise

PORTLAND, USA: Tripwire, Inc., provider of risk-based security and compliance management solutions, today announced the results of a survey of 167 attendees at the Black Hat USA 2013 security conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Many of those surveyed - 44 per cent - said that if they could change one thing in their organization to improve security, they would increase the number of highly skilled security people on staff.

Thirty-two percent would increase their security budget, and 24 percent wished to have their board and/or key executives buy-in to security goals and objectives.

"More than ever, business leaders are aware of IT security's important role in keeping companies and organizations protected in today's high-risk security climate, and that is creating unprecedented demand for skilled security experts," said John Pierce, vice president of information systems.

"I expect we would likely see the same emphasis on hiring additional experts if we conducted this survey again at Black Hat in 2014," added Pierce.

The desire for information security experts has increased significantly over the last five years.

According to a recent report from Burning Glass Technologies, the demand for cyber security professionals has grown 3.5 times faster than other IT jobs.

Organizations may witness stagnant security if these roles are not filled, even as budgets increase to combat the latest threats and executives become more aware of security necessities.