Cybersecurity Industry Developments to be Thankful For in 2021

If you only looked at the industry’s top headlines, the cybersecurity and infosec industry had a rough 2021. Ransomware attacks dominated the headlines week after week, and it appeared that nobody — even the top companies in the world — were immune to a breach.

However, consistent threats, like those in 2021, breed resiliency and innovation in a space that continues to prove it is necessary and important year after year … Here are five cybersecurity industry developments to be thankful for as 2021 comes to a close and 2022 draws closer.

And speaking of things to be thankful for, PlexTrac is the premier reporting and security workflow management platform in the industry. The Purple Teaming Platform consistently saves customers valuable work time while improving efficiency across all of your teams. If you’re interested in seeing the platform in action, schedule a demo with our awesome team today.

Now, let’s get to the trends…

The Cybersecurity Industry Boom Continues

Experts continue to predict exponential growth from the cybersecurity industry both in the short term and moving into the future.

In fact, the cybersecurity market is expected to exceed $330 billion by 2027. Organizations across the globe are doubling down on their digital security in order to protect their valuable data following numerous high-profile breaches in the year 2021.

On top of the continuous fear of a costly breach, many organizations have shifted their work operations to a hybrid — or sometimes entirely remote — environment.​ This shift, while beneficial to organizations and their employees, also creates a greater need to protect data in the cloud.

With the industry as a whole expanding quickly, there is a greater need than ever for security jobs, which we’ll touch on more in the next section.

The Expanding Cyber Attack Surface Is Creating Jobs

While the work of a cybersecurity employee has not gotten any easier, it’s become more important than ever. Ransomware and other advanced attacks have created an expanded, higher stakes cyber attack surface, an expansion that’s counteracted by expanding your security defense surface. And how do you expand your defense surface? The answer is more jobs, and industry research confirms that.

For example, it’s estimated that there will be around 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs by the end of 2021. This means that if you’re a valuable cybersecurity professional (and I bet you are), you won’t have much difficulty finding a job this year or any time in the near future.

The Cybersecurity Talent Shortage is Plateauing

Both security employees and teams/organizations have something to be thankful for in 2021. While 2021 appears to be the peak of the cybersecurity talent gap, research suggests that the gap will plateau. This research claims that the number of cybersecurity job openings will remain around 3.5 million worldwide from now until 2025, and may decline as we move into the future.

Why should security organizations be thankful for this? This research shows that while the industry is predicted to grow even faster in the future, unfilled jobs will plateau, which demonstrates two things:

1. More qualified employees are entering the cybersecurity industry
2. These individuals are taking jobs at organizations, both small and large, and helping the “good guys” win the fight against nefarious threats

The U.S. Government and its Top Organizations Are Investing Heavily in Cybersecurity

Google and Microsoft have both promised the United States government that they will invest $30 billion — split between $20 billion for Microsoft and $10 billion for Google — in cybersecurity advancements over the next five years. In addition to this, the United States government passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in November. This bill includes an increased allowance of nearly $2 billion for cybersecurity and related provisions.

These investments are all well and good, but what do they mean for infosec?

These news headlines serve as a signal for a shift in prioritization for the U.S. government and its top companies in order to maximize defenses against cyber attacks. This money will be used to hire more security employees, create more advanced security architecture, and bolster resources in the never-ending fight against adversaries.

Bonus: Security Companies like PlexTrac Continue to Fight for the Good Guys

While it’s a shameless plug, up-and-coming security companies like PlexTrac exist to level the playing field in the continuous fight against adversaries. Many service providers and security teams are thankful for PlexTrac … But why should you be?

PlexTrac’s mission is to empower teams to win the right cybersecurity battles. PlexTrac exists to streamline the security process workflow so good guys can save time and become more efficient. After all, time is money and adversaries won’t wait on you to defend against their attacks.

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