If They Had to Choose, Cyber Pros Would Take More Staff Over Larger Budgets

Most cybersecurity professionals value one thing more highly than even an increased security budget: having more skilled employees on their staffs.

A recent survey of 167 attendees at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas by security company Tripwire found that the majority of those surveyed (44 percent) believe increasing the number of highly skilled security workers on staff would be the most valuable action for improving information security at their organization.  

Increasing security budgets also was considered a top need by 32 percent of respondents, while 24 percent said they would have more buy-in to security goals and objectives by their board and key executives.  

The high-risk security climate “is creating unprecedented demand for skilled security experts,” said John Pierce, vice president of information systems at Tripwire. “I expect we would likely see the same emphasis on hiring additional experts if we conducted this survey again at Black Hat 2014.”

In times of tight budgets, what is more crucial to your agency’s security posture – more money or more staff?

Hat Tip: Dice