Trend Micro survey confirms skills gap

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global provider of cybersecurity solutions, has reported survey results that the ongoing and often detrimental shortage of cybersecurity talent has led a majority of organisations to turn outward for help. This is most often seen through automating technology, increasing training programs and outsourcing detection and prevention.

Regardless of their size, organisations today share a common challenge: IT security teams are understaffed and overextended. The number of security alerts, the challenge of what to prioritise and the shortage of expertise can be overwhelming and introduce risk.

The research – which surveyed 1,125 IT decision makers across the globe – shows that 69% of organisations agree that automating cybersecurity tasks using Artificial Intelligence (AI) would reduce the impact from the lack of security talent. This comes after 64% of organisations experienced increased cyber threats in the last year.

“Protecting the enterprise from cyber threats is like a game of whack-a-mole,” said Ian Heritage, a cybersecurity architect at Trend Micro. “Not only do IT and security teams have to maintain constant vigilance on their cyber defences, they also have to communicate these risks to business leaders to ensure sufficient budgets and don their HR hats to recruit the necessary skill sets. The CISO’s role is harder than ever before and the demand has never been higher for automated and hosted solutions.”

From the survey, 63% of IT decision makers plan to leverage AI technology to automate their security processes. However, while AI can effectively handle data processing, trained cybersecurity professionals are needed to analyse the results and manage the overall security strategy.

According to Gartner: “The shortage of skilled security professionals has been a perennial problem that consistently results in failed security technology deployments. The number of unfilled cybersecurity roles is expected to grow from 1 million in 2018 to 1.5 million by the end of 2020.”

The Gartner report continues: “Most organisations are struggling to fill the open positions they have, let alone retain skilled staff. Managed detection and response (MDR) services are filling the need of organisations of all sizes that lack internal security resources and expertise and want to expand their investments beyond preventive security technologies to address their detection, response and 24/7 monitoring gaps.”

To help solve this business problem, Trend Micro tackles both the technology and people needs of the skills gap. Companies are increasingly adopting Trend Micro’s MDR and Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions to streamline visibility, prioritise threats and optimise the time and talent of in-house teams.