A recent review from job site Indeed has suggested that Australia has only 7% of the cyber security skills that it needs.
Market demand for cyber security specialists has more than tripled in four months
Developments in the industry, such as the introduction of the NDB (Notifiable Data Breaches) scheme in February and the EU’s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in May, have more than tripled demand for cyber security specialists in Australia between February and June of this year.
Indeed held a review of job postings that required cyber security skills, and found that while searches for cyber security jobs had remained relatively stable from July 2016, the volume of searches had increased substantially after February 2018.
After the NDB scheme came into effect in Australia in February, demand for cyber security specialists more than doubled from approximately 22 jobs per million listings to a staggering 50 jobs per million listings in April 2018.
This figure increased even further to more than 77 cyber security jobs per million listings after the GDPR was enforced in May 2018.
In 2017, interest in cyber security job postings met 17.5% of the demand. After the number of job postings surged by 173% in the past year, however, the Australian market is supplying just 7% of demand.
Addressing the skills shortage in Australia
Indeed noted that, despite this surge in demand from organisations, there is a shortage of skills among potential candidates:
“The problem is that cybersecurity professionals – who combine broad technical skills with specific security expertise and an understanding of business risk – are becoming much harder to find. Addressing this skills shortage will remain a matter of critical importance for the foreseeable future.”
According to CSO, a number of initiatives have tried to fix this issue: “Recent projects have included popular speed-networking events by AustCyber; a program called WithYouWithMe that focuses on retraining skilled military veterans; a recent $600,000 government grant uniting the University of Sydney and the banking industry to develop a Cyber Security Challenges for High School program”.
The importance of investing in information security training
Anyone in Australia looking to start or advance their career in cyber security will benefit from training and qualifications that focus on all areas of information security.
IT Governance offers a suite of practical online training courses that focus on the international standard for information security management, ISO 27001, and are suitable for IT professionals of all abilities.
ISO 27001 training allows you to gain the knowledge and skills required to plan, implement, maintain and audit an ISO 27001-compliant ISMS (information security management system).
Read our blog Which ISO 27001 training course is right for you to help you choose the right level and format for your training.
