Colonial Pipeline shutdown highlights need for more cybersecurity professionals
Colonial Pipeline shutdown highlights need for more cybersecurity professionals
The Colonial Pipeline has resumed operations days after a ransomware attack forced it to shut down. As these kinds of cyberattacks are becoming more common, demand is growing for cybersecurity experts. And there aren’t enough of them to go around.
The U.S. needs at least 360,000 more cybersecurity professionals, according to Clar Rosso, chief executive of cybersecurity professional association (ISC)². “It really is a matter of the supply not being able to keep up with the demand. And the demand is growing at exponential rates,” Rosso said.
Cybersecurity is still a relatively new field, Rosso said: “A lot of businesses don’t truly understand what their cybersecurity needs are.”
The number of people going into cybersecurity is growing, said Chris Bronk, an associate professor at the University of Houston. “We had 100% growth in my graduate program last year,” Bronk said. It’s going to take a while to get an adequate number of workers trained, he added.
“We have a very hard time finding educators who can teach this stuff.”
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