As part of the discussion panel on the theme of advancing security leaders, Honan said there is a greater diversity of skills needed in the industry. These include crisis management skills, risk management skills, public relations skills, he said.
Communications skills for clear and succinct communication, as well as sales and marketing skills, with customer support.
“These are often soft skills that are not as easily taught, unlike the purely technical,” said Honan.
Dr Jessica Barker, independent cyber security consultant, agreed with Honan, adding that from a sociological perspective, it was interesting to see that people are coming to the industry with non-tech skills, later acquiring those skills.
Difficult path
However, Dr Barker added, based on her own experience, it was hard to advise people how to get into the industry if not coming from that pure technical path. She said infosec leaders need to make it easier and clearer for people to discern and develop the relevant skills.
Millett added that it is vital to ensure that technical teams have had the operational grounding within the business to understand how they can use their technical skills and knowledge to help.
This was a point that resonated for McCormack too, who suggested that chief information security officers (CISO) should have CEO skills, as he said in a security incident management situation, the CISO is effectively in charge.
Next-gen
Where the next generation of infosec talent will come from was discussed by the panel, with most in agreement that much of it will come from outside of current infosec industry.
McCormack suggested finding a recruitment company “that isn’t playing buzzword bingo with your requirements and résumés”.
“We are going to have to be extremely lateral” in how we look for the next round of talent, said McCormack.
Millett added that we need to engage with young talent, as well as educate and socialise the opportunities out there.
When it was put to the panel that risk averse organisations are unlikely to hire infosec professionals who have not come to the industry by traditional routes, Millett responded by saying that better education of boards will help, to allow them to understand the benefits of broader talent scopes.
Dr Barker said that while experience is invaluable, the problems we are currently facing have not been solved in the last 20 years. “We need fresh thinking, different perspectives and people with different experiences,” she said.
Developing people
“We’ve changed in the way we develop our people,” said Nealon. “We are often not interested in developing people beyond the base skills of a certain role. We need to think about lifelong learning and development to broaden skillsets.”
Nealon said that he is a firm believer in lifelong learning. “We own our own destiny. If our organisations are not making opportunities for us, we have to make them ourselves, learning as we go to make that a reality.”
“It’s all about having that professional development conversation with your staff,” said Millett.
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