Cybersecurity Professionals Start to Command Digital Business Respect

There are a million reasons why many cybersecurity professionals could feel down about the state of IT security within their organization. But buried in a “How Enterprises Are Steering Through Digital Business” report published by Infosys suggests the role cybersecurity professionals play within their organization is starting to finally transform for the better.

A global survey of 1,000 senior IT and business decision makers in organizations with 1,000 employees or more than $500 million global annual revenue conducted by Infosys finds two thirds (64%) of the respondents’ organizations said they have implemented cyber security within their organization to improve existing business operations. More importantly, over half (53%) said they implemented cybersecurity solutions to solve new business problems, while 28 percent said cybersecurity was key to being able to create new business opportunities.

The Infosys report indicates that attitudes towards cybersecurity may finally be changing. Most business and IT leaders have longed viewed IT security as a cost of doing business that needs to be minimized. But if cybersecurity starts to be viewed as a key enabler of digital business processes then the way those leaders view cybersecurity professionals starts to quickly evolve.

That transformation can’t come too soon for many cybersecurity professionals. A new survey from the (ISC)² association of certified cybersecurity professionals finds only 15 percent of respondents say they have no plans to switch jobs this year. A full 70 percent said they are open to new opportunities, while 14 percent admitted they plan to look for a new job. Given the demand for cybersecurity skills these days looking for a new job amounts to little more than being willing to pick up the phone to talk to a headhunter. Survey respondents say they are being aggressively targeted by recruiters with 13 percent report being contacted many times a day; 8 percent, once a day; 16 percent, a few times a week; and 34 percent, a couple times a month.

Interestingly, survey respondents ranked having their opinions taken seriously (68%), being able to protect people and their data (62%) and working for an employer with a strong code of ethics (59%) all topped salary (49%) as being important attributes when selecting an employer.

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In terms of professional goals respondent identified working for a company with clearly defined ownership of cybersecurity responsibilities (62%), an employer that views cybersecurity more broadly than just technology (59%) and working for an organization that trains employees on cybersecurity (59%) were identified as pressing concerns.

Clearly, organizations that view cybersecurity as enabler of their digital business strategy are going to attract the best talent. There will never be perfect cybersecurity. It’s apparent cybersecurity professionals want to work for organizations that understand their job is to minimize risks to the business versus somehow magically protecting the company from every known form of malware infecting every system. Respondents to the (ISC)² survey content cybersecurity professionals should eb evaluated based on how quickly they respond to a breach or security incident (43%); security program maturity (30%); how effectively they increase employee security awareness (30%) and how effectively they handle remediation (28%).

Overall, the rise of digital business initiatives just might prove to be the best thing that ever happened to cybersecurity professionals. Business executives understand that changes to processes inherently create risk. As part of becoming a digital business many more of those business executives are also now finally starting to better appreciate just how big a risk factor cybersecurity has become.