Solving the Shortage of Cyber Pros

The vast majority of federal and private cybersecurity workers believe there is a critical shortage of cyber workers in the federal government, with most blaming the lack of a defined career path as reason for the shortage, according to a new survey by consulting firm (ISC)2.

The survey, which is based on a poll of nearly 700 front-line information security workers from government and industry, found that more than 73 percent of cyber professionals believe there is a critical shortage of workers in their career field. Of those, 75 percent said the lack of a defined career path is causing the shortage, and nearly 60 percent believe the reason is a lack of professional development programs, the survey reported.

Forty-eight percent of respondents also agreed there is a gap between existing certification programs and the specific cybersecurity skills needed in the workplace. In addition, respondents attributed security weaknesses to a lack of understanding among upper management (85.8 percent) and inadequately trained staff (74.6 percent).

A recent draft report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies recommended the creation of a board of information security examiners to help close the gap between existing certification programs and specific skills, as well as a shift in focus in training and certification from security principles and best practices to primary technical skills.

But (ISC)2's survey found that 69 percent of cyber workers do not believe that a government-run board of examiners will close the gap between existing certification programs and the cybersecurity skills needed in the workplace. Nearly 54 percent said they do not think spending money on exclusively technical training and certification programs would solve the problem either.

"The results of this poll demonstrate that although information security professionals believe that the white paper and others have accurately identified the human capital problems in cybersecurity, they have neither acknowledged the correct causes, proposed the best solutions, nor have they provided data to support the claim that fatal flaws exist in the existing certification environment," said W. Hord Tipton, executive director at (ISC)2 and former CIO at the Interior Department.