Cybersecurity job growth is growing at three times the pace of other IT jobs, but according to ISACA over 84% of organisations believe that 50% or less of applicants for security jibs are qualified. Some businesses are experiencing delays of over 6 months to find qualified security candidates. Compounding this, many of those who are qualified or trained in this area are leaving the country.

On a positive note, we have seen that more and more businesses are becoming aware of the looming threats and are enquiring around ways in which they can protect themselves, which is a step in the right direction. While we appreciate that not all businesses have the budget to implement a full security solution, or even to have a security professional on their payroll, but there are still steps that even smaller businesses can take to minimise the risk of being hacked or breached.

It is important to find a partner or provider who can offer you the best solution, suited and tailored to your business model, as there is no one size fits all approach to security. The approach needs to take into account a business infrastructure, applications and data as these differ from business to business.

In a standard day, an employee may use their personal device to check email, use public applications to browse the internet and upload files like presentations to a public forum like Dropbox, make phone calls, use business apps via a public or private cloud and access their files and work from anywhere. This showcases the different areas in which security is essential; and the list will continue to grow as technology continues to evolve and change the business landscape.

Security needs to become a top priority in all businesses, no matter the size or industry in which they operate. Consideration needs to be given to how best to face security challenges, both long and short term, and processes need to be established for dealing with security related emergencies. The time for updating outdated systems, or implementing new ones, is now.