Demand for cybersecurity professionals up 3 times in 1 yr, to escalate: Report

With increasing incidents of large-scale cyber-attacks and governmental cyber espionage, the demand for professionals in the segment has gone up three time in past 12 months, according to a report. "As companies seek to bolster their defence against data security breaches, the demand for cyber security experts in India has outstripped supply of these professionals by three times over the past 12 months," according to a report by an outbound recruitment solution Belong.

This demand trend is likely to grow faster going forward with the rise in use of Internet and e-commerce and customer awareness on cyber security, Belong Co-founder Rishabh Kaul told PTI here. The Belong research is based on data from postings by companies needing cyber professional on multiple platforms for a period of 12 months. The report said, organisations are going on a hiring spree to secure their data and systems, and the demand for cybersecurity professionals is in both tech as well as non-tech companies.

According to the research, currently, there are 10,000-15,000 open jobs related to cyber security across tech and non-tech roles in India. The bulk of the demand of hiring is triggered by the the technology and banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sectors, the report added.
Further, the report also revealed that within the technology sector, the demand is spread between ITeS (25 per cent), software product (non-security) or shared services or captives (24 per cent) and security companies (9 per cent), it said.

The bulk of the demand is likely to be in the top 10 IT hubs in the country, including Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune among others, Kaul said. The demand for cyber security professionals is all across, but the majority of these openings is for the fresher level, he said.
"With the demand escalating, there may also be rise a in expats hiring, especially for the mid-level or senior level roles where experience is needed. There is also a possibility of companies hiring senior level professional, who will be based from some other country, to lead a team here in the country," Kaul added.

Currently, most companies are struggling by either giving more responsibilities to their mid-senior level executives or depending on third-party players, he said. With technology changing fast, many companies have begun focusing on cyber security and getting involved in training talent to reduce this demand-supply gap, he added.