Can't get the staff? The growing need for cyber-security skills

When we consider the specialist expertise required in the IT sector, cyber-security is definitely an area in which we should want work to be entrusted to suitably skilled professionals. However, while this is easy to say, it raises immediate questions of what it actually means in practice. Cyber-security is an area that we really want to be entrusted to suitably skilled professionals. But while this is easy to say, it raises questions about what it actually means in practice. Organisations that realise they ought to be looking for suitable professionals may not know how to recognise the skills they need. If we are to address the skills shortage, we need to cast our net widely and encourage people to join the profession from a wide range of backgrounds and to trawl within our current workforce, explain Steven Furnell, Pete Fischer and Amanda Finch of the Institute of Information Security Professionals.