Bridging the Cyber Security Skills Gap

Cyber crime continues to impact organizations around the world. The number of attacks have surged nearly 20 percent in 2020 – and those attacks are becoming increasingly more sophisticated and costly for organizations and agencies.

Faced with this reality, companies are looking for security professionals who have the right skills and expertise to help them address cyber risk. Unfortunately, there continues to be a skills gap within cybersecurity. Already, the number of unfilled cybersecurity positions has reached more than 4 million – an increase of nearly 40 percent since this time last year. 

Why the gap?

A look at the job statistics for cybersecurity professionals paints a rosy picture. There is virtually no unemployment, the pay is competitive, and most professionals don’t need to complete a formal cyber-focused education path to break into the field. Yet, the gap continues to grow.

As the world evolves and cyber crime increases, the professional market simply cannot keep up with the demand. In addition, a lack of clearly defined and consistent career paths makes it difficult to recruit and train – with titles, job duties and roles varying significantly across industries and organizations.

What can you do?

Closing the gap is a big task, and with the global cyber workforce currently needing to grow by 145 percent, it will be an ongoing, long-term process.

1. Rethink recruitment: Traditional recruitment methods need to be revamped to look at professionals outside of the cyber profession. Only 42 percent of current cybersecurity professionals started in the industry. Broadening new-hire channels to include candidates from diverse, non-traditional backgrounds can help organizations bridge their gap. 
2. Support professional development: Employee retention is a concerning issue within the cybersecurity field. Growing demand means that professionals are able to pick and choose their employer. An organization that provides an environment where employees have the opportunity to develop their skills is a key differentiator. In fact, organizations that financially support continued cyber certifications for their employees saw 72 percent employee satisfaction.
3. Seek automation: For organizations that are understaffed and overwhelmed, turning to technologies to automate processes can help ease the workload for your current team. Look for technologies that help to streamline operations and prioritize threats or incidents, enabling your team to focus on the most critical activities. 
4. Invest in training: One-off training is not going to cut it within the cybersecurity field. The rapidly evolving landscape of threats requires continuous learning. Investing in your front-line defense with continuous cyber learning provides the opportunity for employees to both learn new skills and develop existing ones, ensuring that knowledge remains fresh and that employees remain confident in their abilities.

How can we help?

At Motorola Solutions, we’re committed to cybersecurity training and education – both for our customers and within our own organization. 

We keep our employees on top of their game. We’re constantly focusing on the internal development of our team. Toward that end, we’ve implemented a number of training and education programs. 

1. We partnered with Secure Code Warrior to help our internal development teams stay up-to-date with gamified training that is globally accessible. The training experience included a boot camp and tournament to test the skills the participants had developed and was instrumental in upskilling participants across the company. 
2. Our security team undergoes continued development that is geared towards their current level and future goals. A cybersecurity score helps to assess their skills and design specific training to help them improve. Final assessments highlight development progress and help employees track their goals. 
3. As part of our internal security culture, we have also implemented cybersecurity champions across the entire company. Pulling from departments throughout the organization, these valued members help spread awareness, enthusiasm and knowledge to their teams. These individuals play an integral role in driving an organic security culture throughout Motorola Solutions.

We help our customers gain an edge. Our courses are designed to address key attack areas and span from introductory essentials training to more targeted response education.

Online learning provides 100 percent virtual courses over the internet. Training is self-directed and self-paced to ensure flexibility while providing critical skills needed to protect against cyber threats. We also provide Virtual Instructor-Led Training (VILT) in a virtual or simulated environment. These are designed to mimic a traditional classroom learning experience and incorporate genuine interactions to ensure student engagement. Both of these options ensure accessibility in light of emerging social distancing requirements, while enabling your team to stay current.

Our training is custom-fit to your business needs to ensure your team gets the right training, at the right time. Courses span all state and local, Department of Homeland Security and NIST National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Framework areas to ensure your organization stays up-to-date and compliant. 

Your organization needs to be staffed and skilled appropriately. Training can play a critical role in addressing the cyber skills gap and ensuring your team can protect against cyber crime.

Download the solution brief to learn more about our education and training options.