Tech industry spotlight: Cyber Security

Following the UK Government’s latest advice for people to work from home amid a second wave of COVID-19, cyber security needs to be a top priority for businesses. Home networks are more vulnerable to cyber attacks than corporate ones, making businesses more vulnerable.

According to CWJobs’ research, 48% of UK businesses have a basic cyber security skills gap. Given how suddenly the UK workforce has been advised to work from home, many companies won’t have had time to plan sufficiently for cyber security measures.

Let’s take a closer look at the current state of cyber security in the UK:

The UK’s fastest-growing startup sector

It may come as no surprise that cyber security is the fastest-growing startup sector in the UK. According to the government’s Cyber Security Sectoral Analysis 2020, there are 1,221 companies in the UK currently providing cyber security products and services, which is a 44% increase in the last two years.

UK Tech News reports that cyber security funding has increased by 940% for startups since lockdown began, with almost as much money raised in the first half of 2020 than the whole of 2019. This is good news for UK businesses, who typically don’t have the skills in-house to handle cyber security.

As partnerships are formed with specialist providers, cyber security in the UK business landscape will tighten, creating job opportunities and future-proofing businesses from cyber attacks.

Protecting staff working from home

Researchers at Memoori have found that during Covid-19, hackers are carrying out an increasing number of cyber attacks on all manner of organisations, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), healthcare providers and charities. Similarly, Info Security Magazine reports that hacking and phishing attempts were up 37% in March 2020.

As such, companies need to be extra-vigilant in ensuring that remote workers can identify and understand the security risks in working from home. In a recent CWJobs article, we highlighted some of the ways that companies can protect their staff and their business.

For example, staff should be provided with guidance on how to identify phishing emails and what to do if they suspect they’ve received one. They should also be provided with a remote working policy that highlights cyber security best practices. Staff should be shown how to store devices securely, how to create strong passwords and how to handle sensitive data.

Companies should consider implementing two-step authentication for third-party software and set up Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) for remote users to access internal resources securely.

Meeting demand for cyber security skills

Research carried out by Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that there will be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity positions globally by 2021. And given that cyber crime is predicted to cost the world $6 trillion annually by 2021, there is a real need to address the skills shortage.

According to CWJobs’ research, only half (50%) of UK businesses say they have the right skills to combat a cyber threat. Only half (51%) of IT workers said that cyber security was included in their training, and almost one in four (23%) say they are not confident in handling a cyber security attack.

With the sudden rise in e-commerce and home working, the need for tech candidates with cyber security skills is at an all-time high. UK Tech News reports that cyber security vacancies grew 6% in the first half of the year. Candidates with these skills are in high demand and for businesses to attract the right talent, they need to look beyond job adverts and really understand what attracts top candidates to apply for roles.

Finding the right talent

At CWJobs, our experience tells us that top tech candidates seek out roles that provide a good salary, flexible working opportunities, a strong company culture, diversity and inclusion as well as learning and development opportunities.

Longer term, companies should aim to develop partnerships with schools, colleges and universities to make tomorrow’s workforce aware that cyber security is a viable and rewarding career option. Likewise, offering tech apprenticeships can help future-proof businesses.

Dominic Harvey, Director at CWJobs has previously shared his insights on the matter in an article in Tech Radar:

Organisations should actively promote their training and development schemes alongside roles that fall under the umbrella of being ‘tech based.’ Then, companies should also highlight the array of tech apprenticeship programmes on offer today for emerging IT talent.

The best way to inspire school leavers and students is by investing into a creative and exciting workplace cultures, which better attracts talent, and helps develop the next generation of tech workers. This investment will take both time and money, but if organisations have the capacity to support long-term planning, the prioritisation of next generation talent is likely to prove more efficient for them in future,

At CWJobs, our tech jobs database can help employers find the right talent across the UK, especially now that remote working has become a huge part of the business landscape. Our Instant Candidate Recommendations tool also removes the challenges of sourcing expert candidates to cyber security roles that are difficult to fill.