Why Cybersecurity Training and Upskilling Employees Is a Must For Organizations In Today's Changing Business Dynamics More and more businesses are seeking to revamp their modes of working and enable a tech-enabled digital realignment of core company operations
By Rakesh Kharwal •
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The pandemic has ushered extensive industry-wide disruptions across all business avenues as organizations are swiftly pacing towards an online transition. More and more businesses are seeking to revamp their modes of working and enable a tech-enabled digital realignment of core company operations. With such a drastic shift towards digitization initiated in such little time, it is evident organizations would also need to prep up their cybersecurity defenses.
With India witnessing a 37 per cent increase in cyber-attacks in the first quarter of 2020 compared with last year, the road to robust and holistic national cybersecurity architecture is still a long way ahead. Essentially said, Indian businesses are in colossal need of the latest innovations in cybersecurity training and upskilling.
As per estimates, the shortage of cybersecurity professionals is 9 per cent higher compared with global figures. A recent workforce development study by Frost & Sullivan showed that around 59 per cent of organizations featured vacant cybersecurity positions, and the number is only looking to increase further.
These statistics highlight the vast cybersecurity skill gap prominent in the country's tech vista and leaves India Inc highly vulnerable. The country's overarching cybersecurity architecture needs a mass injection of fresh talent, technology and techniques to overcome the numerous deficiencies in the country's tech landscape.
According to reports by DSCI, India requires around one million cybersecurity professionals under the current circumstances but has less than a hundred thousand of them. While companies are gearing up to calibrate their overall cybersecurity defenses by increasing their budgetary allocations for the same, the biggest crisis that is faced by the industry is the lack of competent and able cybersecurity professionals.
In a world that is fast turning towards remote working, a diligent cybersecurity tech team is of paramount importance. The pandemic is making its presence felt across almost all business quarters. Now, the need for optimum cybersecurity systems is all the more imperative. With businesses graduating towards a world-wide WFH policy, the number of cybercrimes has multiplied many folds.
Employees now work from the vicinity of their homes on their systems leave huge amounts of confidential company data to the mercy of countless cyber miscreants. The low levels of firewall and antivirus protection of homebound PCs plus the ineffectiveness of remote working employees in neutralizing cyber threats pose a risk to businesses across the country.
The biggest flaw in the Indian cybersecurity segment is the lack of real-time experiential training and simulation that replicate real-life cyberattacks and data breaches. By immersing cybersecurity professionals in real world attacks and quickly correcting their bad habits, trainees can develop muscle memory that allows them to respond significantly faster. With such training programmes, you can see how your team communicates, how quickly and effectively they analyze large quantities of data, who team leaders are, and who folds under pressure. This will eventually tell you who you can or can't rely on when a critical incident occurs.
Nowadays, with the exhilarating pace at which innovation and technology are advancing, cyber-fiends are armed to the teeth with the latest in hacking and cyber espionage. Companies must exercise due vigilance in being able to identify and isolate potential threats.
Businesses now comprehend the need for state-of-the-art and new-age cybersecurity solutions and a proficient cyber protection team that is well-versed in managing cyberattacks and potential breaches on an everyday basis. An organization's cybersecurity task force must comprise of skilled IT professionals who can adeptly resolve threats using cutting-edge cyber tools and specialized maneuvers. The presence of a well-qualified team of cybersecurity experts is of immense importance for organizations today. By swiftly zeroing in and eliminating all potential hazards, cybersecurity professionals are helping businesses save data assets worth millions of dollars.
