DBS IT Australia Weighs in on Australia's Cyber Security Skills Shortage

PERTH, Australia - Oct. 4, 2016 - PRLog -- Custom software development company DBS IT Australia has recently responded to a report revealing that Australia is feeling the lack of professionals working in cyber security more acutely than other countries.

The Centre for Strategic and International Studies performed a survey which was commissioned by Intel Security, and it revealed that 88% of decision makers in Australian IT agree that there's a shortage of people with skills in cyber security both within Australia and in their individual organisations.

The report, Hacking the Skills Shortage is a study of the shortage in cybersecurity skills internationally, and IT decision makers from the United Kingdom, France, Israel, the United States, Germany, Japan, Australia and Mexico answered a number of questions about cybersecurity.

Respondents across all countries surveyed said that education in cybersecurity was deficient. 82% of those surveyed reported a shortage of skills, and 76% said they believe that their government isn't investing enough money in cybersecurity talent.

DBS IT Australia recently weighed in on the results, and a spokesperson for the company had this to say:

"It seems that almost every day we read about another company that has been hacked, and attacks are outpacing defence- largely due to the lack of cybersecurity skills both in Australia and internationally. This shortfall means that many companies have a critical vulnerability since current education and policies are failing to meet the demand for these skills. At DBS IT, we're committed to providing secure software solutions to prevent hacking and ensure that businesses across all sectors in Australia can keep their data safe and confidential."

The most frequent skills currently in demand include secure software development, intrusion detection, and attack mitigation. Interestingly, 97% of those surveyed said that their organisation's board of directors are now viewing cybersecurity as important. This is a huge change, as just five years ago cybersecurity was not even considered to be in the top 10 risks that boards were prioritising.

It doesn't look like the workforce shortage for cybersecurity will be abating anytime soon, and respondents estimated that on average, 15% of cybersecurity positions would be unfilled by 2020, with Australian respondents estimating this number at 17%.

This skill shortage is risky for organisations, and many companies say that this gap in the workforce has already caused them to incur damages. Many businesses have been targeted by hackers, with 25% of respondents saying that their companies have lost propriety data due to this gap in cybersecurity skills, and 22% saying that they've suffered reputational damage.

What does this mean for businesses in Australia that need to keep data safe? The DBS IT spokesperson says it's not all bad news: "While it's definitely a problem that Australia (and many other countries around the world) are facing such a skills shortage in cybersecurity, many are choosing to outsource these tasks instead of hiring dedicated specialists to work in-house. At DBS IT, we work with many different companies, providing software development, cyber security and IT management and we can help businesses both large and small protect their data."

If you're looking for a software development and IT consulting company, get in touch with the team at DBS IT AUSTRALIA today. Contact us now ! https://www.dbsit.com.au/it-consulting-perth.html