The global skills gap for cybersecurity professionals has shown improvement over the last two years, but is still a serious problem for some of the world’s leading economies.
That is the main finding of a new study conducted by Indeed.com, which found Israel to have the highest skills shortage, followed by Ireland, the UK and the US.
A shortage in skills was found in all of the 10 countries surveyed, although there are signs of improvement. Ireland made the greatest strides, closing its skills gap by 14%.
Other countries to see improvements included the US (7%), Italy (six per cent), France (6%), Israel (5%, Germany 3%, Australia (1%).
The numbers for Israel will be seen as particularly encouraging, given that the country comfortably has the strongest demand for cyber security professionals – 89.2% higher than second-placed Ireland.
Such strong demand is likely to be down to Israel’s reputation as an increasingly prominent technology hub, with the nation boasting more startups and scientists per capita than any other on earth.
Elsewhere, the UK (5%), Brazil (11%) and Canada (12%), have all seen their skill gaps widen.
The figures for Brazil will be particularly disappointing, given that it contains the lowest level of demand out of all the nations surveyed.
However, it was Britain’s poor performance that was picked up on by Indeed economist Mariano Mamertino.
The UK has seen a 32% increase in the number of cybersecurity jobs over the last two years, and Mamertino believes many British companies are leaving themselves exposed.
Beyond the headlines, cybercrime is a threat to organizations of all sizes,” he was quoted by Computer Weekly as saying.
Writing about this last month, ESET’S Stephen Cobb encouraged cybersecurity professionals to do their bit to “encourage others to join our ranks”. He added: “The biggest single attraction for current and aspiring cybersecurity professionals is probably a high level of commitment to security, which is also something that brings many other benefits to your organization.”
