Has the time come for businesses to train and upskill employees to create cybersecurity experts to fight against the rise in cybercrime?

Steve Usher, Senior Security Analyst at Brookcourt Solutions, shares his thoughts on the upsides and downsides, and whether there are alternative ways of harnessing those skills, other than in-house?

Steve says that training and experience are two different things. “The issues currently are not so much the lack of training, as there are an increasing number of people moving into the cyber security industry, but more the lack of experience. Yes, there is still a lack of staff in general, but I believe it is incorrect to assume the entire issue lies with the actual number of people in the cyber security industry.”

More than just a job:

“How do we create cyber security experts? The real experts in the industry are those with a passion for it and a thirst for knowledge, people that see cyber security as more than simply a job.”

Steve believes the solution comes in two parts. “The first being that companies start looking at the potential of people, and not simply the experience and certifications that they offer. Having more in-depth conversations, during the interview stage, will allow more businesses to pick up a person’s passions and experience, as well as knowledge of the field.

The second part of the solutions is to have a solid focus on skills and knowledge transfer in the workplace. A program that will support people’s skills growth and enhances their current set of capabilities, exposing them to people and situations that are outside of their day-to-day responsibilities to help promote experience and enhance people’s interests in areas that they are passionate about, can do a long way. An upskilling program of this nature will not only benefit the business operationally, but also contribute towards a stronger staff retention for the business.”

Steve says “there are, of course, alternative to the above, with numerous courses, certifications, diplomas and degrees available to assist in qualifying people to work in the cyber security field, but qualifications and real-world experience are not the same thing. Experience cannot be materialised out of nowhere, the opportunity to gain that experience must be provided.”

If you want to enable your company to measure and optimise human cyber capabilities to provide security training and skills development across your workforce, Brookcourt Solutions can help.

Steven Usher,

Senior Security Analyst,

Brookcourt Solutions