Cyber security specialists have warned that the continued depiction of hackers as reclusive computer geeks is misleading and actually puts promising students of a career in the profession.
Speaking at the launch of Cyber 9/12, an annual cyber security competition for universities, experts said the industry is in need of workers with a wide range of skills, not just strong computer abilities.
The warnings come amid growing concerns over a cyber security skills gap, as the industry struggles to keep pace with rapid technological change and rising cyber crime.
Speaking to City AM, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said that changing the industry's image and looking for a broader range of abilities could be the key to tackling the skills shortage.
"The thing about the skills shortage is if you're only tapping into a fraction of the graduate community or the school community in the Stem world, you're already self-limiting," NCSC director for operations, Paul Chichester, said. "Actually, what we find is some of the best people we have have a much more diverse set of skills."
With more than 350,000 unfilled European cyber security positions by 2022 being forecasted, there is a huge demand for security practitioners and plentiful opportunities for new entrants to the profession. However, according to Matt Walmsley, EMEA director at Vectra, there is still an assumption that qualifications such as computing, and mathematics are essential for working in cyber security.
"The traditional cyber landscape and attack surface is growing and changing at too fast a pace, meaning that knowledge and certifications based upon yesterday's tactics and battles ultimately won't win tomorrow's cyberwars," he said.
"Yet, this doesn't need to be the case and is only unnecessarily compounding the problem of a lack of new staff in this area. What we need are cybersecurity professionals who can not only learn and adapt quickly but also build and apply a contextual understanding of the organisations they protect and work in, not just develop abstract technical skills and knowledge."
