How Cybersecurity Threats are Creating Jobs

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re aware of the increasing problem the technology sector faces regarding cybersecurity threats.
Either way, the rise of cybercrimes is getting harder and harder to ignore: according to the FBI, there are more than 4,000 ransom attacks happening per day since January 1, 2016, representing a 300 percent increase since 2015.
Similarly, the WannaCry attack that spread across 300,000 computer in 150 countries in mid-May was dubbed the “largest such cyber assault of its kind,” and even infected large, well-known companies such as as FedEx (NYSE:FDX), Telefonica (NYSE:TEF) and Nissan (OTCMKTS:NSANF). As such, the ransomware attack proved that no company is too big for such attacks.

With the rise of cyberseurity attacks, it goes without saying that the amount of money going into preventing those threats will also increase and, in turn, the amount of jobs there are in the cybersecurity industry.

But, you might ask, what consists of these cybercrimes? As Cybersecurity Business Report states, they include any of the following:

• damage and destruction of data;
• stolen money;
• lost productivity;
• theft of intellectual property;
• theft of personal and financial data;
• embezzlement;
• fraud;
• post-attack disruption to the normal course of business;
• forensic investigation;
• restoration and deletion of hacked data and systems; and,
• reputational harm.

According to a May 2017 Cybersecurity Ventures report, it projects that, by 2021, there will be roughly 3.5 million available cybersecurity jobs. In terms of unfulfilled jobs, a MyITPros infographic estimates that number will reach 1.5 million by 2019.
In addition to that, Cyber Geek points out that there are nearly 780,000 people in the US employed in cybersecurity positions, while there are 348,975 cybersecurity job openings available.
That said, the Cybersecurity Ventures report highlights that the number of cybersrecurity job openings is up significantly from 209,000 in 2015—a 74 percent improvement from the previous five years, according to a Peninsula Press report from 2015.
It was also estimated by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) that by 2020 in India, the country will need 1 million cybersecurity professionals to match the demand of its economy.
“Every IT position is also a cybersecurity position now,” the Cybersecurity Ventures report states. “Every IT worker, every technology worker, needs to be involved with protecting and defending apps, data, devices, infrastructure, and people.”
Indeed, with cybercrimes projected to cost $6 trillion by 2021, it should come as no surprise that the need for cybersecurity jobs will more than triple over the next 5 or so years.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Jocelyn Aspa, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.