Giving Thanks in 2022

5 Cybersecurity Trends To Be Grateful for

If you work in cybersecurity, your job — and the whole industry — can feel like a never-ending game of chess. It’s a constant struggle, with you and your team strategizing on the next best moves, both offensive and defensive, that will hopefully keep you a step ahead of the adversaries. Unfortunately, when you’re required to focus so much on this high-stakes game, you can easily fall into the habit of only seeing the negative aspects of the job — the multiplying aggressors, the innovative hacks that threaten your systems, the increasing demands on your time and resources…

You might have had little time lately for breathing, collecting your thoughts, and taking an objective view of how you’re doing. So, as we in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving this week, we invite you to step back, take a few peaceful minutes, and realize that we in the cybersecurity industry have a lot to be thankful for!

Feeling thankful for your security team this holiday season? Let your team know by gifting them PlexTrac, the premier cybersecurity reporting and collaboration platform. 

Cybersecurity Trends We Are Thankful for this Year

1. The Cybersecurity Industry Is Rapidly Growing

The explosive increase in demand for cybersecurity services sparked by Covid in 2020 has only continued to grow. Between workers’ increasing demand for work-from-home positions, online businesses established in 2020 that are still going strong, and the average US household sticking with the convenience of online activity and commerce that they adopted during the early days of shelter-in-place, the need for cybersecurity services has never been greater. And fortunately, most companies are aware of this need.

While the numbers vary depending on who you ask, experts unanimously predict that spending in cybersecurity will continue to increase in the near future. According to Fortune Business Insights, the cybersecurity market is expected to experience a compound annual growth rate of 13.4 percent through 2029, with spending increasing from over 155 billion USD to 376 billion USD in 5 years. Cybersecurity, and the number of jobs it offers, is on the rise.

2. Education Options Are Increasing

Tech-related jobs have never been in greater demand; per Business Insider, the vast majority of the top 10 high-demand positions for 2022 are tech related (cybersecurity specialist comes in at number 7, with a shortage of more than 700,000 workers in the US). With all of that demand, schools, colleges, and non-traditional education groups are taking notice and have started or accelerated their cybersecurity programs. There have never been so many training options out there to start (or advance) a career in cybersecurity.

Recognizing these trends, the US House of Representatives has recently introduced the Cybersecurity Skills Integration Act, which would grant higher education institutions up to 500,000 USD per year to support cybersecurity education programs. If passed, this could significantly increase the number of qualified entry-level cybersecurity professionals entering the workforce in the near future.

3. More Cybersecurity Resources Than Ever

For the owners of small and medium-sized businesses, the thought of getting the security coverage they need can be daunting. Fortunately, this year has ushered in a large number of cybersecurity services and tools available for businesses and institutions of all sizes to help keep cyber threats at bay.

We have seen a significant increase in the number and quality of pentesting tools, vulnerability scanners, and other tools that cybersecurity professionals can lean on to make regular scanning easier and more effective. The increased presence of cloud-based cybersecurity services, including cybersecurity as a service (CSaaS), enables owners and managers unable to hire their own internal security team to still have the support they need, when they need it. Whatever your cybersecurity needs are, there is now a tool or service (or both) to meet those needs.

4. Power to the (Cybersecurity) Workers

The job market has never been so favorable for those going in, or staying in, the cybersecurity industry. Due to increased demand and the current shortage of available talent, cybersecurity workers are in a great situation when it comes to finding and defining their employment, demanding top dollar for their work and the flexibility and perks that they want and need.

As the Wall Street Journal recently pointed out, with such high demand, companies are now more willing to invest in training existing employees who have little cybersecurity experience but who are willing to learn. This development is fantastic news for workers wanting to make a career change, but who don’t have the funds or other resources needed to go back to school for years. 

There has never been a better time to be a cybersecurity worker, whether you’re a veteran, a new grad, or a complete novice. 

5. Greater Awareness, Greater Support

Gone are the days when a cybersecurity team had to shout just to get noticed by the higher-ups in their organizations, or when cyber adversaries were dismissed as incomprehensible boogeymen. C-suites are finally recognizing the threats that cybercriminals pose to their businesses and are willing to do something about it.

The 2023 Global Digital Trust Insights Survey by PwC shows that cybersecurity has become a higher priority for business leaders, with large numbers expecting an increase in cyberattacks and breaches in the coming year. CISOs and cybersecurity team leaders can utilize these concerns to advocate for better employee security training, increased resources, and changes in policy that would make their work easier. 

So Much to be Thankful For

This year has demanded so much from cybersecurity workers — threats to combat, requirements and standards to meet, tools to master, and backlogs of work to tackle. But as we celebrate Thanksgiving, remember that all of this activity means that you and your work are vital to your organization, that you are appreciated, and that you have the skills to survive and thrive in a time of economic uncertainty. 

And we here at PlexTrac are grateful for you, too! Thank you for working with us, being a part of our videos and conference talks, and helping us learn how we can better serve the cybersecurity community. Have a great Thanksgiving!