As businesses adopt new technologies to manage the risk of cyberattacks, malicious actors are using the same machine learning and cloud computing tools to defeat the safeguards.
The game between risk managers and cybercriminals drives 51% of security executives to increase investments from 6% to 10% in 2022. Managing the increasingly complicated threats to data networks also pushes demand for information security analysts by 35% — about seven times higher than all occupations — through 2031.
While postsecondary programs fill the demand for cybersecurity risk managers and these programs have increased by 33%, according to federal data, the pool of qualified candidates has barely kept pace.
“One reason for this is the very fact that cybersecurity is now more widely considered a critical function,” an analysis of the data notes, and “cybersecurity talent is still expensive and hard to find.”
Why Are Cybersecurity Risk Managers in Short Supply?
The risk manager’s role in cybersecurity requires expertise in prebuilt risk management frameworks based on best practices, such as AWS Audit Manager, to identify, assess and mitigate risks and develop disaster-recovery protocols.
Businesses also place a premium on cybersecurity professionals with advanced knowledge in cloud computing. However, hackers leverage automated data management systems to exploit weak spots in cloud networks and software.
“Machine learning algorithms will improve security solutions. But they are also going to help threat actors launch bigger, more complex attacks,” CSO Online reports.
Managing the growing potential for disastrous data breaches and malware infections requires advanced expertise in cloud computing and security, security architecture, threat research, network and web security and incident response.
“It’s critical to stay up to date on the newest cyber-attack efforts, digital infiltrations, and online threats in the cybersecurity business,” the Cyber Security career guide advises.
What Do Cyber Risk Managers Do?
As companies expand their infrastructure by adding machines, cloud applications, information systems and management controls, hackers have increasingly more targets to attack and risk management responsibilities become more complex.
Those key roles include:
- Understanding potential threats and analyzing the risk
- Developing risk strategies and identifying processes and controls to mitigate exposure
- Implementing security measures
- Training staff role in protecting networks, data and systems
- Reviewing and testing the effectiveness of your security measures
“A [risk management] process requires you to take a look at the entire IT infrastructure of the organization and then try to identify possible threats that might arise from vulnerabilities within your systems, people, processes and technologies, and cyberattacks,” Security Forward says.
How Do Business Professionals Prepare for Cybersecurity Careers?
An ideal path to a high-demand career begins by earning a Master of Science (M.S.) in Cybersecurity that examines the theory and provides hands-on experience in cloud computing and security, data privacy, security architecture and incident response, as well as risk assessment and testing.
The M.S. in Cybersecurity program offered online by Northern Kentucky University, which is designated as a National Center for Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity institution, includes:
- Cloud computing Studies infrastructure and hands-on labs in AWS and CLI
- Cloud security Concepts and best practices to harden remote data storage and applications against cyberattack
- Incident response Step-by-step processes for detecting and responding to threats
An M.S. in Cybersecurity can prepare you for critical positions such as chief information security officer (CISO), cybersecurity manager, cybercrime analyst/investigator, architecture, engineer, senior penetration tester and other in-demand jobs.
Learn more about Northern Kentucky University’s online M.S. in Cybersecurity program.
