The skills gap remains one of the biggest challenges within the cybersecurity industry. To gain more perspective on what organizations are experiencing, Tripwire partnered with Dimensional Research to survey 342 security professionals on this issue. This study explores hiring trends, how security teams are changing, and how they plan to address the issue in the face of growing cyber threats.
Participant Demographics
Security Teams Continue To Be Understaffed
How would you characterize the size of your current security team?
83% say their security teams are feeling more overworked
Does your security team feel more overworked going into 2020 compared to last year?
Larger organizations, which you might assume have more resources, are experiencing the skills gap issue even more acutely than smaller organizations
Does your security team feel more overworked going into 2020 compared to last year? (By company size)
85% say it’s harder to hire IT security staff now than a few years ago
In your experience, is it harder to hire IT security staff with needed skills and expertise now than it was a few years ago?
IT teams continue to report a wide range of problems in finding expertise
How is your organization experiencing or expecting to experience problems finding IT security staff with needed skills and expertise?
The skills required to be a great security professional are continuing to change
Have the skills required to be a great security professional changed in the past few years?
The importance of expertise with hybrid infrastructure continues to increase
How do you expect the importance of security expertise with hybrid (cloud/on-prem) infrastructure to change in the next two years?
CISOs have widely differing levels of involvement in day-to-day operations
93% of IT security professionals are interested in understanding wellness issues
In recent years, there has been more of a focus at conferences and in online communities among security professionals on managing work stress and mental health. Is this a topic that is interesting to you?
Does your company provide access to any resources for managing the stress associated with the specific issues of IT security (benefits, classes, coaches, etc.)?
9 out of 10 security teams (91%) expect to invest in IT security expertise in 2020
What changes is your company planning to make to improve the skills and expertise of your IT security team in 2020?
Most security professionals are in agreement that they need to do better
Strong interest in managed services for security continues
94% would benefit from outside help
Would your company benefit from outside help (consulting, managed services, outsourcing, etc.) in any of the following areas of security?
