Reasons to Be Thankful about Your Cybersecurity Program in 2020

It’s Definitely Not All Doom and Gloom for InfoSec Professionals

As the holidays approach, nearly everyone in the WORLD is breathing a sigh of relieve that 2020 will soon be over. As much as we would like this year to end and to leave behind a global pandemic, contentious election, a tanked economy, and, particularly, homeschooling, it hasn’t been all doom and gloom for those associated with cybersecurity.

In fact, on the whole, if you work in Infosec, you have quite a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

The Industry Is Still Thriving

Despite the stress we’ve all be feeling about the state of the economy, cybersecurity professionals have not had to worry much about their job security, comparatively. While industries across the spectrum have been facing dire straits and roller coaster financial markets, cybersecurity has continued to grow.

Although this news might not be especially exciting if your company has struggled, having experience in a stable … and highly necessary … industry is a comfort when so many people are out of work with limited prospects in the foreseeable future. If you have cybersecurity skills, you still have many options.

Having job security that grows proportionately with the likelihood of cyberattacks is definitely something to be thankful for.

The Workforce Went Fully Remote

If, like us, you are looking for something to celebrate this holiday season amidst the seemingly inevitable Fall COVID-19 spike, you need only look to the immediate past. When challenges come and you rise to the occasion, it’s definitely time to be proud and thankful for those that helped you succeed.

Those in cybersecurity face an endless stream of threats every day and must constantly innovate to meet them. However, few challenges are as difficult or universally felt as the whole world’s workforce working remotely almost overnight. And it wasn’t just employees that had to be supported and protected but also students and customers and clients who all began to transact almost exclusively online. IT departments and their InfoSec counterparts managed the transition like the professionals they are.

While this change was certainly not painless and presented many new threat vectors, it happened and is definitely worth celebrating. You and your colleagues at every level deserve the gratitude of employees everywhere, not to mention of parents whose kids are still learning online and everyone doing their Christmas shopping virtually, too.

All of us managing life safely—both physically and virtually—from home this year thank the many cybersecurity professionals whose tireless work has made this possible.

Budgets Are Increasing

What? You may ask of this headline. My budget isn’t increasing; I can barely keep my head above water. Sure, not every individual budget at every organization is increasing or even sufficient to do the work you need to do. But when has there ever been enough funding?

Generally speaking, however, the disasters of 2020 have not derailed forecasts that companies are and will continue to increase their spending on cybersecurity. A Forbes article from last August said, “Enterprises’ spending on cybersecurity continues to grow, defying the pandemic-driven economic downturn impacting global IT spending.” If anything, 2020 had solidified how important spending on cybersecurity is to organizations’ being able to function both now and into the future.

While budget is just one measure of an organization’s values, globally, the value of cybersecurity to enterprises has only been reinforced by their spending this year. And having your work acknowledged and highly valued is definitely something to be thankful for regardless of the size of your budget.

The Number of Qualified Cybersecurity Professionals Is Growing

Speaking of the value of cybersecurity work, the industry has been facing skills shortages for years. Shockingly, the tide may be turning in 2020. Infosecurity Magazine reports, “The huge global shortfall in cybersecurity professionals has dropped for the first time since records began, thanks to more joining the industry and pandemic-related uncertainties on the demand side, according to (ISC)².”

While this finding is not as rosy as it may first appear due to the inevitable pandemic belt tightening that affected even the robust cybersecurity industry, it’s generally good news for everyone that there are more people entering the field and filling roles in many understaffed departments.

It’s a good time to be thankful that your prospects for finding skilled help are improving and a good time to be thankful for the talented colleagues that you are already surrounded by whether above, beside, or below you.

Tools and Partners Are Better Than Ever Before

Finally, in a year that has presented so many challenges, particularly to an industry tasked with protecting our online activity, it’s nice to know that innovative solutions to address these challenges are improving too.

Tools and partners available in the marketplace to streamline processes, improve your security posture, and get better coverage with less financial and personnel investment are more prevalent than ever. While nefarious actors are relentless so are the companies finding ways to help you combat them.

It’s nice to know that you don’t have to know everything and be everywhere at once. With the right support, your organization can have a strong security posture and you might even get to take a holiday, too. That’s definitely something to be thankful for.

We at PlexTrac are so thankful this year for our clients and partners whom we are fortunate to support in their important security work in all their respective industries. Despite everything this year, we are humbled and grateful and hope you have a few blessings to count too.