The ongoing cyber skills gap affects organizations worldwide and ultimately affects the entire digital economy. And cybersecurity changes and evolves at break-neck speed, which makes it harder to keep up with training and learning. On top of this, as remote work increasingly becomes the norm, and infrastructures become more distributed, the need for IT pros with up-to-date security skills and knowledge will continue to grow.
At Fortinet, a survey we conducted prior to the pandemic found that 76% of respondents agreed that the skills shortage has created additional risks for their organization. There simply aren’t enough professionals to fill the open positions, so organizations can’t completely cover their threat landscape. This skills gap has existed for years, and clearly needs new solutions. Solving this requires the industry to come together to create more cybersecurity pathways and a diverse pipeline of security professionals, but it also demands a culture of continuous learning.