In recent years, a steady supply of cyberattacks targeting government agencies, financial institutions, health care, and other vital sectors have demonstrated the country’s vulnerabilities in cyberspace. In fact, overall in 2021, an average of 2,215 cyberattacks occurred per day, costing Americans $4.2 billion.
This dilemma magnifies a lack of trained IT security professionals, alarming experts who have spent years tracking the growth of hacker groups. According to the 2022 (ICS)2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study, the industry needs to grow by about 3.4 million workers to close the global workforce gap. In the US alone, there are more than 700,000 cyber jobs to fill, 40,000 of which are in the public sector.
Think differently about how you address the cyber workforce shortage.
“The cybersecurity talent shortage is one of the most significant and threatening challenges facing our industry today. We all need to think differently about the problem,” said Barbara Massa, executive vice president at the cybersecurity firm Mandiant.
“We need more cyber professionals entering the career field. And a cybersecurity career should be within reach for anyone who wishes to pursue it. We need more pathways to cyber careers, and we need them as soon as possible.”
With competition for cloud security talent razor sharp in the private sector, many believe automation is the answer for recruitment, retraining and retention. “Automating STIG and CIS security measures go beyond relieving your IAs to address patches and backlogs,” states Brian Hajost, CEO of SteelCloud. “Saving the time and effort of configuring systems is one thing. Maintaining those security configurations over time is a whole different beast.”
See how automation helps train employees for you.
“Our automation solution, ConfigOS, has served as a training tool for less experienced IAs, enabling them to troubleshoot and harden systems,” says Hajost.
SteelCloud’s ConfigOS patented technology automates STIG and CIS BenchmarkTM control implementation and maintenance. It enables you to scan your entire environment, implement controls, detect conflicts, remediate conflicts, and document waivers all in a single location. Because it is so easy to operate, a less experienced IA can control and monitor operations and, along the way, learn the art of STIGing.
You can train your current staff to use ConfigOS in one day and start hardening your infrastructure immediately. Additionally, it enables you to maintain a secure environment by updating all configurations within 72-hours of a new release so that you no longer have to worry about the burden of manually updating systems, networks, devices, and software.
Ease your cyber workforce recruiting and training burden.
As the workforce shortage increases, so do salaries. And recruiting becomes very competitive and costly.
ConfigOS automation makes it so any enthusiastic recruit can come quickly up to speed on government cybersecurity processes. “Having the right automation tool, simplifies recruiting and retraining efforts, preserves budget and, with everyone on the team appropriately challenged by their work, also goes a long way with retention,” says Hajost.
It’s not enough to rely on the workforce being there when you need it anymore. The cyber workforce shortage needs strategies from multiple angles to defeat. Automation is proving to be a powerful strategy. To learn more about ConfigOS, schedule a demo and see how easily it fits into both your recruitment and cybersecurity strategies.
