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A worrying gap is developing between the need for more people with the expertise to take on this vital role, and the number of people actually being trained and mentored, so they have the requisite skills and expertise, and that makes the government's latest pronouncements - including a new higher level apprenticeship, plus teaching grants to meet the increasing demand for cyber security skills - all the more timely.

There's an awful lot at stake. Around 93% of large corporations and 87% of small businesses reported a cyber breach in the past year, while, on average, over 33,000 malicious emails are blocked at the Gateway to the Government Secure Intranet (GSI) every month. These are likely to contain - or link to - sophisticated malware. A far greater number of malicious, but less sophisticated emails and spam are blocked each month.

As the government seeks new ways to protect businesses and make the UK more resilient to cyber attacks and crime, Hugh Boyes from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) points out: "With increasing threats to systems and new vulnerabilities emerging daily, there is an urgent need to develop a pipeline of qualified and experienced cyber security professionals to safeguard our systems and infrastructure in the future. Research [by the IET] has highlighted that a significant lack of skilled workers is hampering the UK's fight against cybercrime. These new measures announced by the Government ['Cyber Security Skills: Business Perspectives and Government's Next Steps'] will help to fill the shortage of skills in this important area and put us in a stronger position to combat cybercrime in the years ahead."

An IET survey of 250 SMEs, carried out last year to gain insight into current cyber trends, found that only half were aware of the government's efforts to combat cyber security. Only 14% said cyber security threats were the highest priority, and felt they already had sufficient skills and resources in place to manage the threat. Only 30% felt they had sufficient protection against potential threats to software embedded in their products.

That just isn't good enough. Beefing up the workforce to ensure that there is the right level of cyber skills in place to meet the burgeoning risks has never been greater, nor more urgent - and yet neglected by too many. This has to change and the new government initiatives are a good starting point from which organisations can start to make the necessary investment in a safer future.

Brian Wall
Editor
Computing Security
brian.wall@btc.co.uk