Organizations want non-security functions like IT operations, risk management and compliance to get more involved in cybersecurity
Tripwire, Inc., a leading global provider of security and compliance solutions for enterprises and industrial organizations, today announced the results of a survey conducted by Dimensional Research that looked at the need for soft skills in cybersecurity. The survey was conducted in July, and its respondents included 315 IT security professionals at companies with over 100 employees.
According to Tripwire’s survey, 100 percent of respondents believe soft skills are important when hiring for their security teams. The three most important soft skills cited were analytical thinker (selected by 65 percent), good communicator (60 percent) and troubleshooter (59 percent). Tied for fourth place, “strong integrity and ethical behaviour” and “ability to work under pressure” were selected by 58 percent of participants.
Tim Erlin, vice president of product management and strategy at Tripwire;
“The cybersecurity industry should not overlook the soft skills that are needed to build a strong security program,”
“The reality is that today’s security pros need to go beyond technical expertise. Security practitioners need to be good communicators who can connect cybersecurity issues to business priorities, rally the rest of the organization to get involved, solve tough problems and handle sensitive issues with integrity.”
Respondents were also asked if the need for soft skills has changed over the last two years, with the following results:
- Seventy-two percent said the need had increased.
- Twenty-one percent said soft skills are actually more important than technical skills when hiring staff.
- Seventeen percent expect to hire people without security-specific expertise over the next two years.In addition, nearly all respondents (98 percent) believe non-security functions need to be more involved in cybersecurity in the future. Of those, 74 percent said IT operations needs to be more involved, 60 percent said risk management, 53 percent said compliance and 45 percent said legal needs to be brought into the fold. Other mentions included human resources (32 percent) and marketing (11 percent).
For more information on Tripwire’s survey, please visit: https://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/featured/survey-says-soft-skills-highly-valued-security-team
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