The IT skills shortage is becoming critical, and the lack of suitably skilled cybersecurity expertise means business are being attacked.

More than half of organizations (54 percent) experienced at least one type of security incident in the past year, according to research from the Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) and the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA). Their report, “Through the Eyes of Cyber Security Professionals,” found that a major contributory factor is the IT skills shortage. Almost one-third (31 percent) of cybersecurity professionals said their teams are not large enough for the size of their organization.

The results tally with recent research from Intel and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). That survey highlighted how 1 in 4 IT decision-makers believed their organizations had lost proprietary data due to the cybersecurity skills gap. The message emerging from both analyses is similar: Organizations that are ill prepared in terms of human resources are most likely to see their data exposed.

How Critical Is the IT Skills Shortage?

The results should raise an alarm among senior business executives, Infosecurity Magazine reported. More than half (54 percent) of respondents to the ESG and ISSA survey said the cybersecurity skills gap has resulted in an increased workload for staff. Additionally, over one-third (35 percent) said the IT skills shortage forced them to hire and train junior employees rather than bring on more experienced cybersecurity professionals.

About two-thirds (65 percent) of respondents said they did not have a clearly defined career path. ESG and ISSA suggested this lack of structure is due to the diversity of cybersecurity areas, the lack of professional standards and rapid changes in the field, Infosecurity Magazine noted.

The survey also noted that organizations are particularly deficient in areas that require a heavy degree of expertise. As many as 32 percent faced skills shortages with application security, for examples, while 22 percent claimed to have a shortage of cloud security skills and 21 percent lacked security engineering expertise.

Are Executives Aware of the Problem?

Perhaps the most alarming feature of the research is that the external security threat is still not considered an urgent issue. Despite tremendous media hype and a series of high-profile incidents, 21 percent said that executive management treated cybersecurity as a low priority, which in turn could lead to serious security problems.

Those results are in sharp contrast to the earlier Intel and CSIS research, which suggested 82 percent of IT decision-makers were concerned about the cybersecurity skills shortage. However, the message emerging from both studies is similar: Senior executives must wake up to the reality of the IT skills shortage to ensure their companies are prepared for these threats.

The ESG and ISSA report came to the following conclusion: “Business, IT, and cybersecurity managers, academics and public policy leaders should take note of today’s cybersecurity career morass and develop and promote more formal cybersecurity guidelines and frameworks that can guide cybersecurity professionals in their career development in the future.”

What Else Can Cybersecurity Professionals Learn?

From the rise of new techniques to fears over national infrastructure, senior business leaders in the private and public sectors must prioritize spending on cybersecurity. Addressing the IT skills, as the research demonstrated, would represent a significant step in the right direction.