Cyber threats caused by IT skills deficit

A failure to fund in-house IT training and up-skill staff is contributing to cyber security skills gaps and potential threats, according to a recent survey.

Conducted by (ISC)², the survey of 3,300 IT professionals revealed that 51 per cent of organisations are less prepared for a cyber attack than they were 12 months ago, while 65 per cent feel their security advice is not followed within their organisation.

In fact, more than half of IT workers feel their company is not investing sufficient funds in ensuring their IT staff are security-trained, despite the fact that 63 per cent of businesses report a shortage in cyber security staff.

Adding to the issue, the report found that many respondents feel the problem is an issue with their leadership, with 49 per cent of respondents accusing their business of failing to understand the requirements of sufficient cyber security systems.

The survey results were collected as part of the 2017 Global Information Security Workforce Study, which found that 43 per cent of companies don't provide the correct level of resources to ensure cyber security training, with only 35 per cent agreeing their suggestions on security are followed through by their superiors.

Commenting on the results of the survey, (ISC)² CEO David Shearer stated that the findings suggest too many of the country's businesses and business leaders are focused on attracting top cyber security talent, as opposed to training the talent already working within their IT teams.

"The quickest way for many organisation to protect themselves against cyber threats is through continuous education and empowerment of their IT team," he said.

"Security is a shared responsibility across any organisation, but unless IT is adequately trained and enable to apply best security practices across all systems, even the best security plan is vulnerable to failure."