In the Philippines and the rest of Asia, majority of companies find it challenging to hire cybersecurity talent due to a skills shortage, endangering business operations.
That is the assessment of antivirus software developer Fortinet, as its vice president of marketing and communication Rashish Pandey said that 71 percent of respondents in their recent study said they were having a difficult time looking for technology-qualified talents for cybersecurity.
“As more organizations adopt technology such as cloud and automation, the issue of a lack of cybersecurity experts has been exacerbated,” he explained.
In their survey, 79 percent of the companies that have a board of directors suggested having more cybersecurity staff. This developed as the pandemic accelerated the shift to digitalization, including remote working and learning setups, online payments and e-commerce.
With the increasing demand for cybersecurity talent, 63 percent claimed that the “skill shortage results in severe cybersecurity consequences for business.”
The study noted that the staff shortage could lead to oversights in process and procedures, failure to be aware of all threats in the network, and lack of time to conduct proper risk assessment and management.
While this shortage in cybersecurity talent should be rightfully worrying for companies, the same situation most likely applies to government, making it an even more urgent need that has to be addressed as soon as possible. Critical government networks, from defense to finance, and most recently, the voting machines used by the Commission of Elections, always have to be secured by the country’s best cybersecurity experts to continuously ensure that they are never compromised by the many organizations, parties and actors that could benefit from exploiting weaknesses and poor cybersecurity.
Businesses and government need to invest more in ensuring the cybersecurity of critical systems. Are doing enough to develop and retain the talent and skills needed to keep our world safe from the silent but devastating cyberattacks that has the potential to devastate businesses operations or crippled governments?*
