Fortinet, a global leader in broad, integrated, and automated cybersecurity solutions, has released its 2022 Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report. The new global report reveals that the cybersecurity skills shortage continues to have multiple challenges and repercussions for organisations, including 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. The report also suggests ways to address the skills gap, such as through training and certification to increase employees’ education.

According to (ISC)2’s 2021 Cyber Workforce Report, the global cybersecurity workforce needs to grow 65 per cent to effectively defend organisations’ critical assets. While the number of professionals required to fill the gap has decreased from 3.12 million to 2.72 million in the past year, this is still a significant void that leaves organisations vulnerable.

Fortinet’s skills gap report demonstrated that training and certifications are critical ways organisations seek to tackle the skills gap further. The report revealed that 95 per cent of leaders believe technology-focused certifications positively impact their role and their team, while 81 per cent of leaders prefer to hire people with certifications. Additionally, 91 per cent of respondents shared they are willing to pay for an employee to achieve cyber certification. One primary reason for highly regarded certifications is their validation of increased cybersecurity knowledge and awareness.

A significant challenge for organisations 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 per cent of leaders admit their organisation struggles with recruitment, and 52 per cent struggle to retain talent.

Among hiring challenges is recruiting women, new college graduates, and minorities. Globally, seven out of 10 leaders see the recruitment of women and recent graduates as a top hiring hurdle, and 61 per cent said hiring minorities has been challenging. According to the report, as organisations look to build more capable and more diverse teams, 89 per cent of global companies have explicit diversity goals as part of their hiring strategy. The report also demonstrated that 75 per cent of organisations have formal structures to recruit more women, and 59 per cent have strategies to hire minorities. Additionally, 51 per cent of organisations have efforts to hire more veterans.