Organizations of all sizes across the globe are grappling with the ongoing shortage of cybersecurity talent. According to the report, nearly 70% of security leaders express heightened risks due to the skills gap, and 56% struggle with recruiting new, qualified personnel. Meanwhile, cybercrime is flourishing with attackers constantly improving their tactics to infiltrate networks.
To address the shortage and ensure organizations find qualified professionals for critical roles, it is important to train employees and develop skills in them to counter modern cyber threats. Like most companies, you should be concerned about the cybersecurity workforce of the future. What skills are required for this, we will tell you in this blog post.
3 Critical Tactics for Cybersecurity Professionals
The degree of information security is a matter of reputation and financial security. For this reason, training programs for staff should be carried out regularly. If they are not given enough attention, financial and reputational losses will be quite large. The mere tactic of using a good VPN, like VeePN, can reduce the risk of a system breach by several times. Even simple knowledge and actions are often enough to prevent 90% of cyber threats. Here is what is required of cyber defense personnel.
#1 Development within its competence
It’s crucial to focus on developing core competencies and skills in basic programming languages. Demonstrating these abilities is a key requirement for potential employers. Ask yourself: Am I truly interested in this position? Have I proven my trainability and what intrinsic motivations make me a desirable candidate? Remember the advice from Trickel.
#2 Think like a hacker
Having a hacking mindset, or the ability to think about a computer system and find ways to break in, is a crucial skill in the cybersecurity field. “Stay updated with developing technologies, keep learning, report vulnerabilities, and most importantly, think like a hacker,” advises Rubio-Medrano.
#3 Become a lifelong learner
Cybersecurity is an ongoing journey of learning, even more so than computer science itself. The knowledge you acquire becomes outdated rapidly, necessitating continuous learning and quick adaptation throughout your career as a cybersecurity professional.
How to Improve Workforce Cybersecurity?
#1 Use VPN
All participants in the workflow, especially remote employees, are required to use VPN. Otherwise, hacking or stealing data will only be a matter of time. Even a Mozilla or Chrome extension by VeePN is enough to protect against phishing, virus infection, data interception by any means, various injections, and DDoS attacks. A good VPN also protects against some other threats, so VPN is a simple and effective key to digital business security.
#2 Set up a Firewall
A firewall is a set of related programs that prevent outsiders from accessing data on a private network. Install and maintain firewalls between your internal network and the Internet. If employees work from home, ensure that their home systems are protected by firewalls. Install firewalls on all computers – including laptops – used in conducting your business.
#3 Make Backup Copies of Important Data
It is important to consistently back up the data on all computers used for your business. Critical data includes word processing documents, electronic spreadsheets, databases, financial files, human resources files, and accounts receivable/payable files. If possible, try to set up automatic backups, or at the very least, back up the data on a weekly basis.
#4 Keep Software Up-to-Date
It’s important to keep your software up-to-date. Software companies usually release updates for three main reasons: to add new features, fix known bugs, and enhance security. So, it’s always a good idea to update your software to the latest version, as this will help protect you from any new or existing security vulnerabilities.
#5 Enable 2-Factor Authentication
You can enhance the security of your accounts by enabling 2-factor authentication. It adds an extra layer of protection, ensuring that it’s truly you accessing your account and not an unauthorized person. Make sure to enable this security feature whenever possible.
#6 Build a Cybersecurity Awareness Plan
Improving overall awareness is a crucial initial step in enhancing your agency’s cybersecurity. Regrettably, numerous professionals in the insurance industry are still unaware of how to detect warning signs of potential threats. This explains why traditional schemes like phishing attempts continue to find success. If your colleagues and employees lack a fundamental understanding of cybersecurity principles, your agency becomes an easy target for attacks. To address this issue, consider providing training and educational resources.
#7 Segregate Sensitive Data and Assets
It is crucial for ensuring cybersecurity to segregate your agency’s digital assets and data. If your office has desktop computers frequently used for nonconfidential operations, it is advisable not to store privileged information like client data on these devices. Insurance agents should separate these resources and ensure they are securely stored on a device with controlled access. Additionally, any device that contains sensitive information should be further secured by encrypting its contents. Encryption safeguards sensitive files by scrambling the text unless the user enters the correct password.
Conclusion
Many public and private organizations are striving to close the cybersecurity skills gap. However, according to the 2022 (ISC)2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study, despite the addition of 464,000 security practitioners in the past year, the workforce gap has grown twice as much as the workforce itself. This highlights the importance of creative approaches in educating and recruiting new cybersecurity talent for enterprises.
One crucial step the industry can take to attract qualified professionals is by providing engaging cybersecurity education opportunities to students and other untapped talent pools.