“As more organizations adopt technology such as Cloud and automation, the issue of a lack of cybersecurity experts has been exacerbated,” Rashish Pandey, Vice President of Marketing and Communications Asia at Fortinet warns the audience at the press briefing of the Philippines’ leg of Fortinet Accelerate Asia 2022.
The increasing skills gap in the region was reported in the 2022 Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report released recently by the cybersecurity firm. Fortinet is known as a global leader in broad, integrated, and automated cybersecurity solutions. The report reveals that the cybersecurity skills shortage continues to result in multiple challenges and repercussions for organizations in Asia, including the occurrence of security breaches and subsequently loss of money. As a result, the skills gap remains a top concern for C-level executives and is increasingly becoming a board-level priority.
“Our Southeast Asia and Hong Kong survey as part of a global report shows that 71 percent of participating companies are facing difficulty in hiring technology-qualified talents for cybersecurity, with 63 percent agreeing that this skill shortage results in severe cybersecurity consequences for the business,” Pandey emphasized as he highlighted how IT and cybersecurity decision-makers from Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia are suggesting ways the skills gap can be closed through training and certifications to increase employees’ education.
Given the increasing costs of breaches on organizations’ profits and reputation, cybersecurity is becoming more of a board-level priority. Across Asia, 89 percent of organizations that have a board of directors reported that their board asks questions specifically about cybersecurity. And 79 percent of organizations have a board of directors who has recommended increases in IT and cybersecurity headcount.
Fortinet’s skills gap report revealed that training and certifications are critical ways organizations seek to further seal the skills gap. Some 97 percent of leaders believe technology-focused certifications positively impact their role and their team, while 86 percent of leaders prefer to hire people with certifications. Also, 89 percent of respondents shared they are willing to pay for an employee to achieve cyber certifications.
Besides valuing certifications, 93 percent of organizations have implemented a training program to increase cyber awareness. However, 51 percent of leaders believe their employees still lack necessary knowledge, which raises questions about how effective their current security awareness programs are.
A significant challenge for organizations has been finding and retaining the right people to fill critical security roles ranging from cloud security specialists to SOC analysts. The report found that 60 percent of leaders in Asia admit their organization struggles with recruitment and 57 percent struggle to retain talent.
Among hiring challenges is the recruitment of women, new college graduates and minorities. Regionally, 76 percent of organizations see the recruitment of new graduates as the top hiring hurdle, followed by 75 percent of leaders for the recruitment of women. 62 percent said hiring minorities has been challenging. As organizations look to build more capable and more diverse teams, 90 percent of Asian companies have explicit diversity goals as part of their hiring strategy, according to the report.
“Committed to addressing this skill gap, Fortinet’s Training Advancement Agenda (TAA) and Training Institute programs were established to increase access and reach of its cybersecurity certifications and training which are deemed important to hiring organizations, as shown in the survey. Fortinet has pledged to train 1 million professionals by 2026, and through working with local partners, we have succeeded in issuing more than 840,000 certifications since the inception of the program,” Pandey added.
