Trustwave Report Shows Enterprises Can’t Hire Enough Security Staff

Finding qualified IT Security staff is hard enough, but if these specialists fail to help an organization meet regulatory compliance it’s likely they’ll be fired, a Trustwave survey finds.

When asked about the biggest challenges related to IT security staffing, 57 percent of respondents indicated that recruiting and finding talent is a significant or major challenge.

While there is a constant flow of staff in and out of many organizations, 64 percent of respondents indicated that IT security staff turnover is not higher than other corporate departments.

The study clearly shows that 83 percent of the responding organizations indicated that experience was the most highly valued attribute in potential IT security job candidates.

When it comes to understanding how current IT staff spends their time, it turns out that security is not at the top of the list. Instead 40 percent of respondents indicated that they spend most of their time on system maintenance and update tasks.

The survey found that 67 percent of respondents identified email security technology as sector that should be heavily or significantly funded.

While email security was identified as a top priority, it’s not the area of IT security that requires the most skilled IT staff members. The report stated that 64 percent of respondent identified security testing (including vulnerability scanning and penetration testing) as an area of IT requiring the most skilled staff.

While it’s hard for organizations to find and retain IT security staff, there are several different reasons why an organization would choose to fire staff. The top reason (68 percent) is failing to meet regulatory compliance that led to a large fine or other penalty.