Why a job in cybersecurity is a smart move

Companies are creating jobs faster than they can fill them.

Here are some sobering cybersecurity statistics (trying saying that three times) to hit you right between the eyes: 

Every business in the world is now at risk of a cyber-attack, and it’s no longer a matter of if it will happen, but when. More than 80% of UK organisations experienced a successful cyber-attack in 2021/2022, costing the UK economy over £27 billion. Global cybercrime is estimated to cost businesses and institutions up to £1 trillion, encompassing both financial losses and cybersecurity spending. 

Approximately 30,000 websites are hacked every day and a company falls victim to a ransomware attack every 11 seconds. This means, by the time you finish reading this article, there will have been 15 attacks on businesses around the world. Last year saw the highest average cost of a data breach in 17 years, with the cost rising from £3.64 million to £3.98 million on an annual basis. 

Interestingly, the shift to remote work had a direct impact – the average cost of a data breach was £1.01 million higher where remote work was a factor in causing the breach. Not to point the finger of blame or anything, but 95% of cybersecurity breaches are human error.

Experts predict, by 2025, cybercrime will cost the world £9.86 trillion. This will represent the greatest transfer of economic wealth in history, and will be more profitable than the global trade of all major illegal drugs combined. If it were measured as a country, then cybercrime would be the world’s third-largest economy after the U.S. and China.

Is it any wonder companies are investing more money than ever to ensure their data is protected at all costs? The worldwide information security market is forecast to reach £343.93 billion in 2028 and demand for cybersecurity professionals has never been higher. Companies are creating jobs faster than they can fill them, making the industry one of the most in-demand in the world. 

A 2022 report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) notes, “There is an undersupply of cyber professionals – a gap of more than three million worldwide who can provide cyber leadership, test and secure systems, and train people in digital hygiene”. 

This shortage numbered approximately one million five or six years ago. Currently, there are 4.1 million cybersecurity professionals in the world and it is estimated 3.5 million cybersecurity positions available globally by 2025.

Cybersecurity is a broad field, with a variety of different career paths. Whether you’re about to enter the workforce, you’re currently in the tech industry and looking for a new role, here are three roles worth checking out, as well as plenty more on the Silicon Canals Job Board.

Security Engineer, Netflix, Remote

Netflix is currently looking for a Security Engineer to join its newly formed security operations team. This team supports the company’s detection and response organisation, which aims to reduce the risk of information security threats through rapid detection and effective response to enable and protect Netflix. 

You’ll need knowledge and experience across the information security domain, such as endpoint security, identity management, cloud security, detection engineering, vulnerability management, incident response, and threat intelligence. You’ll also have hands-on experience investigating security events and incidents across complex and heterogeneous environments, preferably including AWS, and you’ll have developed and deployed security tools and automations. You can read more about the role here. 

Senior Security Engineer, Detection & Response, Airbnb, London

Airbnb is a mission-driven company dedicated to helping create a world where anyone can belong anywhere. It’s looking for a Senior Security Engineer to join its computer security incident response team (CSIRT). This is the front-line team that detects, investigates, and responds to security threats and malicious activity.

If you have more than five years of hands-on technical experience in security engineering, systems engineering, software engineering, network engineering, or privacy engineering, with three of those years of experience in incident response including host and cloud forensics, incident management, threat intelligence, threat hunting, and/or security detection, then this could be the job for you. You can read more here. 

Penetration Tester | IT-Security Expert (m/w/d), Mercedes-Benz Tech Innovation, Amsterdam

Mercedes-Benz Tech Innovation seeks an experienced Penetration Tester. You will carry out penetration tests on infrastructure, networks, embedded devices and applications (back end, web, mobile and rich clients). You will also create meaningful reports on identified vulnerabilities, and advise developers on how to fix them. Red Team / Purple Team assessments using standard and/or self-developed tools will be part of this role, as will gaining knowledge about advanced threat actors and their tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) and evaluating them in terms of risk, processes and people. Get the full job description here.

There are plenty of available roles across all sectors on the Silicon Canals Job Board. The right job is waiting for you.