Alexandra Borgeaud
Research expert covering cybersecurity and tech in Latin America
Cybersecurity skills gaps - statistics & Facts
Every day, news headlines continue to report an ever-growing number of cyberattacks around the world. Despite a proliferation of cybersecurity guidance and significant increases in global cybersecurity revenue and leading companies across industries pushing for further adoption of digital technologies, the number of software applications used by a typical organization has rapidly grown over the last decade, as has the number of internet of things (IoT) devices. This has led to a dramatic change in the “attack surface” where these cyber intrusions are deployed. In the face of these facts, cybersecurity professionals have become some of the most in-demand members of today’s tech labor force.
The cybersecurity workforce is growing fast, but demand is growing faster
The total number of professionals working in the cybersecurity industry was estimated to be approximately 5.5 million in 2024, around one-fourth of which were based in the United States. Nevertheless, most companies worldwide considered their company’s IT security team to be understaffed in 2024. That year, the Asia-Pacific region experienced the largest cybersecurity workforce gap, with a shortage of over 3.37 million cybersecurity professionals. North America ranked second, with close to a 550 thousand gap. While some of the main reasons for cybersecurity staff shortages include budget and wage concerns, the most important reason cited by cybersecurity professionals worldwide was because they could not find enough qualified talent.Cloud, AI, and Zero Trust among the most demanded skills
The struggle faced by employers worldwide to recruit qualified and skilled IT security professionals is particularly severe for some specific roles. Cloud computing security and artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning constituted the most in-demand skills among IT security teams worldwide as of 2024. By contrast, most cybersecurity worldwide highlighted soft skills gaps, such as communication, flexibility, and leadership, among recent university graduates. As AI is forecast to be increasingly used to bolster cybersecurity, AI programming and development are expected to be the most needed skills in the future for AI in cybersecurity.Alexandra Borgeaud
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Jan 14, 2025
Alexandra Borgeaud
Research expert covering cybersecurity and tech in Latin America
