Cyber Reskilling: A Strategy to Reduce Cybersecurity Skills Gaps
Cyber Reskilling: A Strategy to Reduce Cybersecurity Skills Gaps
A perennial problem for companies looking to defend their IT and OT assets against cyber attacks is a shortfall in essential skills. This skills gap often spans the spectrum of specialization from the general security analyst to the incident response analyst with expert knowledge in threat detection and response.
So, what can you do? One option is to navigate a highly competitive labor market and try to pluck out some available talent. Another choice—and perhaps a more attractive one—is to reskill existing employees so they can pivot to cybersecurity roles. Here’s a breakdown of reskilling as a viable strategy to reduce skills gaps in cybersecurity.
Why Do Cyber Skills Gaps Still Persist?
Cyber skills shortages have been a problem for a while, but the issue doesn’t seem to be getting better. A report from ISACA in late 2023 found that 62% of organizations believe their cybersecurity teams are understaffed. A variety of factors combine to make this trend persist, including:
As virtually all sectors now rely on digital technologies, the demand for cybersecurity professionals is high across all industries. Widespread demand outstrips the supply of qualified workers.
Retaining cybersecurity talent can be as challenging as recruiting it. High stress, burnout, and the lure of better opportunities lead to high turnover rates that exacerbate the skills shortage.
The cybersecurity field suffers from a lack of diversity, with underrepresentation of women, minorities, and other groups (women occupy just 24% of cybersecurity roles). This not only limits the pool of potential talent but also reduces the range of perspectives and approaches to tackling cybersecurity challenges.
There's still a lack of awareness about cybersecurity careers among the wider population. Many people might not know about the opportunities or the pathways into the field.
Related to the previous point, cybersecurity education isn’t well integrated into curricula at all levels (from early education through to higher education). This limits the early development of interest and skills in this area (most kids know what a nurse does but few probably have heard about a cyber analyst).
What Exactly Is Cyber Reskilling?
Cyber reskilling trains people with existing skill sets, often from different fields, to take on roles in cybersecurity. It usually starts by identifying essential transferable skills people might bring from other fields, such as analytical thinking from science backgrounds or attention to detail in accounting/finance.
From there, you can run tailored educational programs that cover essential cybersecurity principles, technologies, and frameworks. Suitable candidates for reskilling might engage in hands-on learning experiences, such as cybersecurity labs, simulations, and real-world projects, to apply what they've learned in practical scenarios.
Cyber reskilling programs achieve better outcomes when they incorporate mentorship from experienced cyber professionals who can give guidance and insights into the cybersecurity landscape and industry/business-specific threats.
The cybersecurity field is quite uniquely suited for reskilling efforts. Unlike many traditional professions (like law) that demand specific educational backgrounds, cybersecurity benefits from candidates who bring varied experiences and ways of thinking. A constantly evolving threat landscape defines cybersecurity, and this evolution calls for a diverse set of skills and perspectives.
Furthermore, the essence of cybersecurity work—problem-solving, critical thinking, and adaptability—aligns with skills that people may develop in completely unrelated fields. These transferable skills mean that with the right training, even those from non-technical backgrounds can successfully transition into cybersecurity roles with a reskilling approach.
Best Practices for Reskilling in Cybersecurity
So, how can you get the most out of cyber reskilling so that you end up reducing cyber skills gaps rather than potentially adding extra costs and consuming more time without actually strengthening your defenses? Here are some best practices to consider.
Assess skills gaps and cyber potential
Start with a full assessment of the existing skills gap within your organization and identify potential candidates for reskilling based on their aptitude in relevant skills and general interest in cybersecurity. The “interest in cybersecurity” part is pivotal because even if the monetary rewards sound nice, people tend to leave jobs they find uninteresting.
This step ensures that you precisely target reskilling efforts to address the actual needs of your company while also better aligning with the capabilities of potential candidates. After all, the goal is that investment in reskilling will directly contribute to strengthening your cybersecurity posture, perhaps in a cheaper and more efficient way than looking for existing cyber talent in the job market.
Cultivate a continuous learning culture
Embed the principle of continuous learning into the reskilling program. Encourage anyone pivoting into cybersecurity to pursue ongoing education and certifications in their own time. Cyber threats change fast—nobody had heard of a double supply chain attack before April 2023. Remaining current with the evolving cyber threat landscape and technological advancements is important for everyone in cybersecurity, not just those entering the field from other backgrounds.
Customize training paths
Recognize the diversity of roles within cybersecurity and the varying backgrounds of people you might consider for reskilling. Offer customized learning paths that allow people to specialize and thrive in areas that match their interests and skillsets. Some creative types might be primed for ethical hacking (pen testers), while analytical types might flourish in security analyst or digital forensics roles.
Emphasize continuous hands-on learning
Use a lot of practical, hands-on training in your reskilling program. Labs, simulations, cyber ranges, and real-world projects all help people apply theoretical knowledge in practice, which prepares them for the actual challenges they will face in their cybersecurity roles. And because there are constant updates to the threat landscape and corresponding incident response, it’s crucial to have an ongoing program to keep your team ready for new cyber attacks.
Cybersecurity is a highly practical field. Reskilling efforts that focus too much on theoretical knowledge without providing adequate hands-on experience can leave people unprepared for what their daily work involves. Theory without adequate practice detracts from the ability to be effective when pivoting to a cybersecurity role, whatever its level of technical specialization.
Boost Cyber Reskilling with CloudRange
Cyber reskilling offers a viable way to reduce skills shortages, but the mismatch between theoretical knowledge and practical skills required by the industry can leave reskilled employees unprepared.
Cloud Range’s RightTrak™ Cyber Aptitude Assessment is an easy-to-take cognitive assessment that matches an individual’s innate talents and abilities with their optimal cyber work roles. It’s a perfect first step for reskilling because the individual doesn’t have to know anything about cybersecurity to take the assessment. The final metric-based report includes scores that predict how the individual will succeed in different areas of cybersecurity, such as ethical hacking, cyber defense, development and design, and analysis and forensics. RightTrak provides CISOs and other business leaders and hiring managers with the details they need to put people in the right role and outline customized learning plans.
Additionally, Cloud Range’s FlexLabs are sets of tutorial-based exercises that provide specific practical knowledge and skill sets for cybersecurity positions. Users can dive into different domains of cybersecurity like vulnerability analysis, incident response, or malware analysis and practice on virtual machines. An extensive catalog of 1,500+ training labs provides the ideal hands-on training to ensure reskilling effectiveness.
Finally, Cloud Range’s FlexRange programs of team-based, live-fire attack simulations enable people to gain hands-on, dynamic experience in different cybersecurity roles. Teams work together to detect, respond, and remediate attacks, which also provides more context for each role and how they can best work together. The exercises accelerate reskilling and time to value.