Jane Edwards
A new study conducted by the Center for Cyber Safety and Education and nonprofit organization (ISC)2 says 87 percent of federal agency personnel believe that recruitment and retention of data security professionals should be prioritized in order to protect an organization’s information infrastructure from cyber threats.
The Global Information Security Workforce Study cosponsored by (ISC)2Â with Booz Allen Hamilton and Alta Associates also found that federal respondents think agencies should increase compensation, provide remote and flexible work schedules, pay for professional certifications in cybersecurity and offer more training support to attract and retain cyber talent, ISC(2) said Tuesday.
The study is based on an online survey of 19,641 information security professionals from 170 countries conducted between June and September 2016 and included responses from 2,620 federal civilian, defense and contractor employees.
Seventy-three percent of federal respondents said their agencies require their information technology personnel to secure certifications in data security, while 70 percent said their organizations have programs that promote diverse recruitment in information security.
“In today’s environment where cyber talent is scarce, organizations must recruit and train untapped talent pools, focusing on women, minorities, veterans and older workers,†said Ron Sanders, a senior executive adviser and fellow at Booz Allen.
