RSAC: Shortage of Trained IT Security Experts "A National Security Crisis"

RSAC: Shortage of Trained IT Security Experts "A National Security Crisis"

• Feb 25, 2014 4:27 PM EST
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By Neil J. Rubenking

Your castle is under attack, but nearly half of your defenders and over half of their commanders are missing in action. OK, there's no castle, but in the war between business and the malware ecosystem, a vast number of defensive positions remain unfilled. At the RSA Conference, Art Gilliland, SVP and general manager, Enterprise Security Products for HP, explained just what HP is doing to fill this security gap.
Security Gap
"The bad guys are so effective because there's a massive gap in the number of skilled IT security people," said Gilliland. "We researched it, we looked at the job environment with Ponemon. 40 percent of essential IT security jobs go unfilled; it's a huge gap. Trying to fight this well-financed adversary, well, if you don't have the skills, you lose. We see that happening.
"We're putting our money where it matters," said Gilliland. "We've allocated a quarter million dollars towards scholarships for women studying IT security. And we're investing in the industry in general by helping universities develop a practical IT security curriculum." He also noted that HP is donating software for use in educational research, so the students will learn security using real-world tools.
The first submissions for the Scholarship for Women Studying Information Security (SWSIS) program are due May first. "There's no specific amount; recipients can get up to $20,000 over two years," said Gilliland. "Participants are also eligible for an internship at HP after graduation. The whole point is, they'll enter the job market ready to add value."
Good Money in Security
"Women in STEM jobs make 33 percent more than women in non-STEM jobs," said Gilliland. "Also, people in IT security jobs earn more than people in non-security IT jobs. There's a large incentive in terms of compensation."
"On the flip side, only 32 percent of companies actually have a career path in IT security," he continued. "That's a problem. If you can't give someone a view of where this career leads, you'll lose the top talent. That's why there are even more vacancies in IT security management."
"The adversary is sophisticated," said Gilliland. "There's a whole malware ecosystem that drives innovation and specialization. An individual company is competing against this whole marketplace. If you don't have the best people, you're going to lose. It's a big challenge if we don't invest in training those people. The current huge gap is a national security crisis.
You can view the whole study on HP's website; check out the SWSIS site too.
Image courtesy of Flickr user Gábor.