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The Unbelievable Demand for Cybersecurity Workers

Gary Rivlin
OneZero
Published in
4 min readApr 30, 2019

Credit: Manuel Breva Colmeiro/Getty Images

AAngela Gunn is fried. With three cases going and a fourth just getting started, this is one of those frantic periods when it feels as if she works in an ER or at a fire station rather than holding a staff position with a computer security firm.

It’s people like Gunn that organizations large and small call if they’ve had a data breach or suspect they have. People in the industry — cybersecurity, if you’d like, though Gunn’s preference is information security, or “info-sec” for short — call this “incident response.” To my mind, though, they’re the online world’s firefighters: those who rush to put out the flames and then assess the damage.

As an incident response consultant for British security firm BAE Systems, Gunn is in charge of assembling a small crew for each case. Typically, that includes an analyst who can pore over computer logs, a malware specialist, and those she dubs “forensic workers, except without the formaldehyde smell and ripped-open chest cavities.” That is, if she can find any live bodies to do the work.

“Right now, I’d sell a right toe for a forensics guy,” Gunn says. “Like a lot of people in info-sec right now, we’re…

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OneZero
OneZero

Published in OneZero

OneZero is a former publication from Medium about the impact of technology on people and the future. Currently inactive and not taking submissions.

Gary Rivlin
Gary Rivlin

Written by Gary Rivlin

I’m a long-time journalist, ex of the New York Times, and author of 7 books. In 2017, I shared the Pulitzer as one of the reporters on the “Panama Papers.”

Responses (24)

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Great article! I think you forgot to add the necessary prereqs:
CISSP, CEH, Sec+, other Cisco certs, and — oh — don’t forget the obligatory at least “5 years of experience”. Recruiters, HR, and even the Security department need to understand that if…

And yet, the manager wants a “forensics guy.” Because a forensics WOMAN wouldn’t do the job? It’s a minor slip, but working to eradicate institutionalized sexism is important to encouraging women to take up this field.

I teach cybersecurity at a community college and I graduate talented students every December and May that are hard working and knowledgeable. The problem is that companies are still requiring multiple years of work experience or a bachelor’s degree…