Since the 20th century, the world's largest employer has been the security sector, with the Indian Ministry of Defense employing 2.99 million active duty, reservists and civilians on the front lines, followed closely by the United States and China with 2.91 million each. The number of people is 2.55 million. However, in the 21st century, the situation is rapidly shifting towards online security, and it is estimated that there will be 4.6 million cybersecurity professionals worldwide in 2022. The growing digitalization of the global economy has increased the threat of cyberwar and cyberterrorism.
Current scenario
The current state of cybersecurity is largely precarious due to the abundance of malware and ransomware responsible for various types of personal information and intellectual property theft. Hope lies in the fact that most countries are aligned on monitoring and handling cyberattack incidents, investing in resilient infrastructure, and promoting flexible and interactive policies.
However, the prevalence of cyber threats has diverted the attention of cybersecurity professionals from protecting digital assets and mitigating risks to restoring data and services to ensure business continuity. A case in point is his Upstox data breach in 2021, which is expected to affect 25 million customers. This incident prompted the company to upgrade its security system and engage the services of a world-renowned company after receiving an email claiming unauthorized access to its database. Cybersecurity professionals have become the most sought-after talent in today's workforce. Due to India's rapid digitization and need to build secure infrastructure, cybersecurity jobs are likely to increase from 300,000 to 0.41 million in the next three years. As of January 2024, India has an estimated shortage of 80 cybersecurity professionals, compared to around 4 million globally, according to Akshay Joshi, Head of Cybersecurity Industry at the World Economic Forum (WEF). There is a shortage of universal cybersecurity professional skills.
As one of the world's fastest growing economies, India is at the forefront of the global business environment. The company has a huge internet user base of 700 million people and over 89.5 million digital transactions. While these statistics reveal our progress towards economic growth, they also reveal our vulnerability to cyber threats. Despite a digitally driven government and the world's largest IT-enabled services sector, Indian technology companies struggle with a lack of critical infrastructure, slow adoption of a digital economy on a national scale, and weak cybersecurity regulations. There is.
As a nation, we spend significant resources specifying the physical security of our physical infrastructure. It’s time for us to take a similar approach to securing our digital presence. This can be achieved with his five strategies:
Implement a robust cybersecurity policy
Regulating the cyber world comes with tough challenges, including a variety of moving parts in foreign-made hardware and software, data stored on servers across borders, and the prevalence of infrastructure across multiple players in the private sector. However, despite the complexities, India needs to develop a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy that can enforce strict laws and penalize companies that do not comply with regulations.
While government agencies such as CERT-In and MeitY are working to tackle threats and breaches, there is still much to accomplish in terms of developing and fostering cybersecurity skills among IT professionals. Implementing robust cybersecurity policies will drive demand for skilled and qualified professionals, creating new avenues for employment and economic growth in a changing world order.
Strengthen the legal framework for cybersecurity and data protection
The Indian government has implemented numerous laws and regulations to address cybersecurity and data protection. The most notable is the IT Act, 2000. The law was amended in 2008 to include cybersecurity and data protection provisions. Additionally, the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has a significant impact on data privacy in India.
However, despite the legal provisions in place, the conviction rate for cybercrime in India remains low. This is primarily due to the lack of technical expertise among law enforcement agencies and the absence of adequate infrastructure to investigate and prosecute cybercrimes. As the country's digital landscape continues to evolve, it is essential that the legal system is able to adapt to these changes and meet new challenges.
Cybersecurity skills and employment
Global spending on security and risk management is expected to increase by 11.3% compared to 2022. Due to rapid cloud migration in recent years,
Solve cloud vulnerabilities in the cloud security field. There is a growing need to implement Zero Trust his architecture along with VPNs to protect supply chain infrastructure and invest in threat detection and response tools. Obtaining the latest technology is easy, but finding the talent to utilize that technology is becoming a challenge. Unfortunately, the two countries with the largest cybersecurity talent shortages in 2022 turned out to be China and India, recording shortages of around 1.5 million and over 0.5 million people, respectively.
Implement protocols for regular training and upskilling of employees
India is expanding its IT talent pool in emerging technology cybersecurity stacks to develop capabilities around adaptive security, cloud security posture management (CSPM), zero trust architecture (ZTA), quantum cryptography, network virtualization functions (NVF), and networking. We need to improve our skills and cross-skill. Today, state-of-the-art cybersecurity measures are being circumvented by cyberthreat perpetrators. For organizations to effectively neutralize cyber threats, employees must have the latest skills and knowledge. This means going beyond the time you spend securing your network and continually investing in the learning and development of your technical professionals. In the coming years, automation will play a key role in managing the vast amounts of data being generated and enhancing security processes. AI and blockchain technologies are of great value in developing strong defenses against cyber threats. These technologies provide valuable support to security professionals by responding immediately and quickly to emerging threats.
Rich academic curriculum and partnership between stakeholders
India is at a critical juncture in the cybersecurity landscape, with the demand for skilled professionals rapidly increasing, with a skills gap of 30%, and the need for skilled professionals with the necessary skill sets to defend against cybersecurity attacks. This highlights the fact that there is a shortage of human resources. To address this, critical job-specific skills must be developed through rapid upgrades of cybersecurity curricula and cybersecurity courses. This includes tripartite cooperation between government agencies, businesses and training institutions to create capacity not only among students but also among working professionals.
conclusion
In an increasingly interconnected world, it is impossible to exist in silos, and a robust cybersecurity ecosystem has become essential to ensure economic growth and maintain national integrity. Government agencies can begin establishing compliance protocols and monitoring implementation, but organizations must take the lead.
Preventive measures against cyber threats and talent development to create cyber threat mitigation capabilities among technology talent. This will help leverage India's demographic dividend and unique technology capabilities to secure business and build talent pipelines.
Written by Krishna Vij, Head of IT Staffing Business, TeamLease Digital
