In a recent media briefing, Arun Kumar, regional director of enterprise IT solutions provider ManageEngine, raised concerns over this shortage, emphasizing the critical need for skilled professionals to fill cybersecurity roles.
An estimated 180,000 job openings are anticipated over the next two years, signaling a boon for the once-nascent industry.
“Earlier, we only had IT departments,” said Kumar. “Now, there is something called a security department in each company; there are new positions, like chief information security officer, chief information officer, cyber security manager, operations.”
Required skill sets
When asked about the necessary skill sets or the educational backgrounds required of potential cybersecurity experts, the regional IT executive said that “coding skills are not necessary” and “a good understanding of cyber security backgrounds” is key.
“When I talk about cyber security backgrounds, what I mean is a firm grasp of infrastructure, cloud access permissions, access management, endpoint security, applications, security compliances and regulations,” said Kumar.
Bridging the skills gap
Kumar also observes that while there are a growing number of universities globally providing cybersecurity-specific degrees, which include the Philippines' AMA University, a gap between one’s education and the industry’s expectations still exists.
“[With evolving threats and rapid changes in technology] there is always that skill gap, which is the readiness of the new generation to enter the [cybersecurity] workforce,” Kumar said.
Forging partnerships
Kumar believes that addressing this ongoing challenge requires crucial collaboration between the government, enterprises, and educational institutions."
“Some enterprises are already partnering with technology providers to offer short courses to immediately fill this skills gap,” said Kumar.
Here in the Philippines, among institutions offering cybersecurity courses are College of Saint Benilde’s School of Professional and Continuing Education or SPACE and the University of the Philippines’ Professional Course on Digital Governance and Cybersecurity.
Meanwhile, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) early this year partnered with CybersCool Defcon, Inc. for cybersecurity and IT skills training and assessment and security for qualified individuals.
A good start
While Kumar says cyber security in itself requires a lot of real-time experience as well as hands-on exposure over a period of time to build that expertise, these short courses are a good start.
“Having these short courses can be a good start for an entry level opportunity. So once they get in naturally over the years they'll be able to build the expertise,” said Kumar.
Features Reporter
