Experts: Not Enough Cybersecurity Professionals

Experts: Not Enough Cybersecurity Professionals

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5867561_m featureA severe lack of cybersecurity professionals constitutes a national security threat, this according to a new report published in the United States.

The lack of professionals has a significant effect on the business sector, stated the writers of the RAND Corporation report. The danger, however, is especially severe when the ability of American government organizations to protect national networks is impeded.

Experts note that this is a supply-and-demand issue, according to the Homeland Security News Wire report. Cyber threats are constantly evolving and multiplying, and the demand for professionals who can defend against them rises at the same rate. The report’s writers explained that according to their findings demand for cybersecurity professionals began to outgrow supply as far back as 2007, highlighting the growing threats: Leakage of credit card data, attacks on internet connectivity and the discovery of “advanced persistence threats” — teams of hackers who go after intellectual property by establishing a persistent presence in the networks of U.S. and other technology targets.

iHLS – Israel Homeland Security

The RAND Corporation experts recommended waiving government regulations that make it difficult to recruit new cybersecurity professionals, funding new software and hardware for educational programs, forming new methods for quick location and screening of promising candidates and finding ways to bring more women into the field. As for long range solutions, experts focused on reducing the demand – effectively neutralizing cyber threats: Limits on government use of problematic computer applications, funding more secure operating systems, and more.

The experts added that any effort taken today will take years to have any noticable results.