While the industry is booming, an article claims that young people today aren’t interested in getting jobs in cyber security.
The Vice article said that while working in this sector is “a growing and potentially secure, lucrative job”, a survey by Raytheon from last week found that only 24 per cent of millennials have any interest in cyber security as a career. It found that 40 per cent of respondents would want to be a “TV or movie entertainer,” while 26 per cent had interest in being a lawyer.
While the salaries and prospects in security can be good, the survey found that millennials are prioritising “interesting work” above “competitive pay” and “security clearance”, while those interested in breaking things and hacking are not interested in being wall-builders.
“In summation, the problem is that millennials either haven’t heard of careers in cybersecurity, or, if they have, it sounds like a boring and potentially unethical boy’s club. Not a great combination”, the article said.
There have been recent stories about attempts to increase the number of skilled security professionals and fill gaps in cyber defence, including hiring convicted hackers and “reservists” to enhance government defence.
Speaking to IT Security Guru, Cyber Security Challenge CEO Stephanie Daman welcomed moves by the government to raise awareness about a career in IT security.
She said: “The government does need to do more to raise awareness in this space and with a new curriculum next year we can help get people into this profession.”
While there is progression with education and more suitable qualifications, Daman said that there should be better recognition of talent that a company has, and be more moves towards getting those people trained and qualified.
She said: “There has got to be more balance in an approach in getting those people qualified for the right people, but the problem is that it doesn’t fit with the traditional order of doing that.”
She welcomed moves forward in enhancing the national curriculum to get more emphasis on IT and security as a career, and through its partnership with e-skills it has been able to get attention to this area. “The work we are doing into getting this on to the new curriculum will encourage people into the subject and encourage those people who are good at maths and problem solving,” she said.
“We are getting there, it is just an old process that is not helped by this sector moving too swiftly as universities try to keep up to speed with cyber security, which is going faster than any curriculum and businesses have to look at it that too.”
