India desperately needs skilled cyber security workforce: Report

An estimated 3.14 million professionals are needed to fill the global cybersecurity workforce gap worldwide, and a skills shortage in India has left critical IT positions unfilled, increasing organizations’ cyber risks such as data breaches, a report released on Tuesday warned.

About 92 percent of Indian organizations will experience cyber breaches in 2022, highlighting the urgent need for cybersecurity skills training, according to a report by cybersecurity firm Fortinet.

The 2023 Global Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report also found that 24 percent of Indian organizations experienced five or more breaches.

“The report shows that more than 80 percent of respondents find hiring certified professionals challenging, which puts organizations at risk. For organizations to strengthen their security postures and stay ahead of growing cyber threats, it is imperative that organizations prioritize cybersecurity training and skill development,” said Vishak Raman, Sales Director, India, SAARC and Southeast Asia, Fortinet.

One consequence of this is that many understaffed cybersecurity teams are overwhelmed and stressed trying to keep up with thousands of daily threat alerts and manage different solutions to properly protect their organization’s devices and data.

Additionally, due to unfilled IT roles due to a lack of cyber skills, the report also found that 84 percent of Indian organizations report facing additional cyber risks.

Nearly half of Indian organizations (those surveyed) suffered a breach in the past 12 months that cost more than $1 million to fix, up from 38 percent of organizations in last year’s report.

“At the same time, 69 percent of Indian organizations expect the number of cyber attacks to increase over the next 12 months, further exacerbating the need to fill critical cyber positions to strengthen organizations’ security postures,” the report added.

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