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  • 1.  'We are Outnumbered' - Huge Cybersecurity Staffing Shortage

    Posted Sep 10, 2020 10:28:00 PM
    I think we're all well aware of the acute shortage of cybersecurity professionals, but an interesting article, nonetheless. 

    'We are outnumbered' - cybersecurity pros face a huge staffing shortage as attacks surge during the pandemic
    CNBC remove preview
    'We are outnumbered' - cybersecurity pros face a huge staffing shortage as attacks surge during the pandemic
    The push to work from home during the coronavirus pandemic is straining cybersecurity professionals around the country tasked with ensuring workers are able to not only work efficiently from remote locations - but to do so safely. This rapid shift is a tall order for an industry that was already in need of skilled professionals long before the pandemic took hold.
    View this on CNBC >


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    Jeffrey Westcott, CPA
    CFO, Cloud Security Alliance
    Bellingham, WA
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  • 2.  RE: 'We are Outnumbered' - Huge Cybersecurity Staffing Shortage

    Posted Sep 11, 2020 04:30:00 AM
    Hi Jeffrey, thanks for sharing this article.  In addition to the shortage, I have routinely found a gap in knowledge in an alarming number of security professionals that are available for employment.  For example, their background and experience listed on their resume/LinkedIn would indicate one thing and after talking to them, you quickly realize they oftentimes don't even understand the basics.  I hope my experience is an outlier and not a trend.  '

    Thanks for sharing.

    Tim

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    Timothy Layton
    VP, Information Security Officer
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  • 3.  RE: 'We are Outnumbered' - Huge Cybersecurity Staffing Shortage

    Posted Sep 15, 2020 08:56:00 PM
    Unfortunately for the near/intermediate terms, I feel this deficit will continue to widen, until industry and academia will produce qualified candidates to eventually fill this gap. I think many industries have seen this ebb and flood throughout history, but the sheer speed and growth of this industry is unprecedented. Interesting times indeed. 


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    Jeffrey Westcott, CPA
    CFO, Cloud Security Alliance
    Bellingham, WA
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  • 4.  RE: 'We are Outnumbered' - Huge Cybersecurity Staffing Shortage

    Posted Sep 23, 2020 02:02:00 PM
    Edited by Jaclyn Parton Sep 23, 2020 02:03:33 PM
    @Jeffrey Westcott and @Timothy Layton this is spot on. There is a SECtember webinar airing on Friday on the same subject, It's Been Ten Years. Why has nothing changed? you may find it interesting.​​​ Jim Reavis and Candy Alexander, discuss why it is important to forge the alliance between ISSA and CSA, ways we can help increase the number of skilled Cyber professionals, and how the shortage is fast becoming one of the least understood problems faced by businesses and the profession today.

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    Jaclyn Parton
    Marketing Coordinator
    Cloud Security Alliance
    Bellingham WA
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  • 5.  RE: 'We are Outnumbered' - Huge Cybersecurity Staffing Shortage

    Posted Sep 24, 2020 10:21:00 AM
    One challenge is that the skill set keeps changing and getting more sophisticated. 20 years ago this was state of the art advice: http://seifried.org/lasg/ and now it's so obsolete it's dangerous. Simple examples: editing firewall rules used to be a skill, now you need to know how to use tools that let you control firewalls across hundreds and thousands of systems, to say nothing of SDP/zero trust as the next step forwards.

    It's like most industries, you used to be able to repair a car with a simple set of tools, now you need a diagnostic computer at a minimum just to find out what's up. The "basic" skills needed to do InfoSec now are what used to be top of the line industry leaders 10 years ago. 

    I suspect one major problem is a lot of people don't upskill fast enough and the change of pace slowly leaves them behind, unable to do a really good job, and to be clear I'm not blaming the people, most admins are super busy solving "now" problems and finding time to learn and grow to deal with "later" problems is tough.

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    Kurt Seifried
    Chief Blockchain Officer and Director of Special Projects
    Cloud Security Alliance
    [email protected]
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  • 6.  RE: 'We are Outnumbered' - Huge Cybersecurity Staffing Shortage

    Posted Sep 24, 2020 01:31:00 PM
    I was thinking something similar...twenty years ago cyber security was a simple firewall and making sure everyone had the latest version of Norton Antivirus installed on their desktop. Things have changed a bit.

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    Jeffrey Westcott, CPA
    CFO, Cloud Security Alliance
    Bellingham, WA
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