{"id":58335,"date":"2023-06-15T15:28:59","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T14:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/?p=58335"},"modified":"2023-06-29T11:41:55","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T10:41:55","slug":"global-cybersecurity-skills-gap-creates-golden-opportunity-for-young-south-africans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/2023\/06\/15\/global-cybersecurity-skills-gap-creates-golden-opportunity-for-young-south-africans\/","title":{"rendered":"Global cybersecurity skills gap creates golden opportunity for young South Africans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Along with many cybersecurity leaders, Doros Hadjizenonos, Regional Director for Southern Africa at Fortinet, aims to encourage young South Africans to enter into a career in cybersecurity and explains how they can do this successfully and some of the resources available.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine a career that offers you high earnings, global opportunities and constant challenges. A career that is in high demand and will never go out of style. A career that can make a difference by protecting people and businesses from cyberthreats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doros Hadjizenonos, Regional Director for Southern Africa at Fortinet, believes that young South Africans can benefit from the current cybersecurity skills gap and turn it into a lucrative and satisfying profession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEmployers around the world are actively seeking cybersecurity professionals with a range of skills,\u201d said Hadjizenonos. A recent (ISC)\u00b2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study<\/em> revealed a cybersecurity skills gap of as many as 3.4 million professionals worldwide, while the 2022 JCSE-IITPSA ICT Skills Survey<\/em> also highlighted significant skills shortages faced by employers in the information security\/cybersecurity field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without enough cybersecurity resources to protect them, it\u2019s perhaps no surprise that organisations are getting attacked more often, costing them millions of dollars. Amid this sharp increase in breaches, a recent 2023 Global Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report<\/em> showed that most organisations are looking to hire more security staff but are struggling to fill vacant positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hunt for talent both at home and abroad<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hadjizenonos explains that cybersecurity encompasses a broad variety of roles \u2013 from sales and consulting to development and architecture, through to data analysts. Those with the right skills can choose to work in South Africa or take advantage of international opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCybersecurity techniques and technologies are the same around the globe, so there is worldwide demand for skilled professionals and talent. This is one of the challenges that South African companies face \u2013 many people with cybersecurity skills are leaving the country for compelling offers abroad. It\u2019s hard to retain them,\u201d said Hadjizenonos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also noted that South African organisations in particular have a high demand for security software developers, Security Operations Centre (SOC) teams, cyberthreat and malware analysts and intelligence specialists. \u201cThere is also growing demand for cloud-focused cybersecurity engineers and people specialising in AI and automation for cybersecurity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SOC teams are increasingly in demand as more local companies see the need for their own SOCs, which serve as command centres for monitoring their IT systems. These teams investigate and respond to cybersecurity threats and work to secure systems and data from attackers. \u201cThis role carries a lot of responsibility and often a great deal of pressure. Because hackers don\u2019t work normal office hours, neither will cybersecurity teams,\u201d said Hadjizenonos. “And because cybersecurity skills are highly sought-after, companies will pay higher salaries for good people who have the right qualifications and experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tackling the diversity issue<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As is the case across many other science, technology and ICT fields, there remains a big diversity gap in cybersecurity. As of last year, women held just 24% of cybersecurity jobs globally, although that number is steadily increasing year-on-year. There are a number of reasons behind the current low figures, one of which is the misconception among women and girls that cybersecurity is a male domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe good news is that most organisations are now working to close the gender gap and encourage young women to enter the cybersecurity field. Those who take advantage of the opportunity generally excel. There are global organisations such as Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS) that work to retain and advance women in cybersecurity. Resources such as these may be useful for girls considering careers in the industry,\u201d said Hadjizenonos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He continued: \u201cIt’s also positive to see that many local organisations are now seeking cybersecurity candidates from a broader talent set, including not just women but also individuals from historically disadvantaged groups.\u201d According to the Fortinet 2023 Global Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report<\/em>, 73% of businesses globally are now implementing recruiting initiatives aimed at women, while 59% have initiated programmes to attract candidates from disadvantaged groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to get into cybersecurity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are a young person who wants to pursue a career in cybersecurity, you should be passionate about computing and have a strong background in maths and science, said Hadjizenonos. \u201cTechnical subjects and computer-related courses like Computer Applications Technology (CAT) will help you to understand the scientific principles of cybersecurity. You should also take advantage of the many learning opportunities that are available online or in person, such as free courses, workshops and boot camps,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot all cybersecurity roles require deep technical skills, but ideally anyone working in cybersecurity is technically minded, curious and logical.\u201d Successful cybersecurity professionals are also generally collaborative, committed to ongoing learning and enjoy \u2018staying ahead of the game\u2019 when it comes to understanding attack methods and protecting their organisations against them. They may also need to be strategic and good at communicating with colleagues at all levels,\u201d said Hadjizenonos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those already studying IT or working in the IT sector, cybersecurity training and certifications add a valuable dimension to their existing qualifications and experience. \u201cEvery IT professional should have at least a basic understanding of cybersecurity,\u201d noted Hadjizenonos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hadjizenonos added that an excellent introduction to cybersecurity is available through free online courses at the Fortinet Training Institute. \u201cFortinet\u2019s Network Security Expert (NSE) 1 and 2 are certification courses that improve cybersecurity awareness training and explain the basics of cybersecurity, the risks and how hackers think. \u201cIt\u2019s a great foundation to start discovering the world of cybersecurity and gauging your interest in the field,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Along with many cybersecurity leaders, Doros Hadjizenonos, Regional Director for Southern Africa at Fortinet, aims to encourage young South Africans to enter into a career in cybersecurity and explains how they can do this successfully and some of the resources available. Imagine a career that offers you high earnings, global opportunities and constant challenges. A […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":58689,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16131,15417,16134,6,260,13,262],"tags":[16130,388,332,35,453],"class_list":["post-58335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-cybersecurity","category-deep-dive-newsletter","category-insights","category-regional-news-newsletter","category-top-stories","category-used","tag-career-advice","tag-cybersecurity","tag-doros-hadjizenonos","tag-fortinet","tag-south-africa"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58335"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58776,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58335\/revisions\/58776"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}