“unemployed cyber security talent: examining the impact of the global pandemic on the cyber

Source: https://www.cshub.com/executive-decisions/articles/cybersecurity-mid-year-report-2020

The Cyber Security Hub survey fielded to subscribers from May to June 2020 showed a concerning statistic – 40 percent of cyber security organizations had not changed their approach to security as a result of the global pandemic. This was compounded by the fact that 20 percent of top cyber security talent was made redundant due to financial pressures on companies. With attacks on the rise, it would be expected that cyber security budgets would increase to combat this, yet 62 percent of cyber security professionals reported their budgets were either staying the same or decreasing.

To face the threat of attacks during this time, the cyber security community focused on security awareness, detection and incident response and access controls. Endpoint security went from the fifth highest to the second highest spend due to the increase in employees working from home, while compliance priority decreased 17 percent from 2019 to 2020. Similarly, the 9 percent increase in SIEM focus showed the community looking to further adopt automation tools due to the decrease in workforce.

In order to combat the talent shortage, companies implemented mentor programs, engaged with universities, and interns. The industry also shifted to defense in depth, with an increased use of industry frameworks to add more standardization.