In a blog post published in back in May, my colleague Doug McLean wrote that an enterprise’s attempt to find experienced, knowledgeable, and (reasonably) affordable Security Analysts these days is no longer a traditional human resource effort, but more like “searching for unicorns”.
Well, fast forward a few months, and a new infographic from Norwich University is not merely confirming the severity of this security skills shortage across the US, but almost makes finding an actual unicorn seem like a pretty safe bet by comparison:
And the grim story doesn’t end here: even though according to a recent RAND report the demand for qualified cyber security professionals began to outstrip supply in 2007, it will take years – maybe decades — to replenish the labor pool. That’s like having an alarm company say: “Sit tight, we’ll be around to fix the broken alarm on your building sometime around the year 2020. In the meantime, keep thinking good thoughts!”