Cyber Security: The Military Solution.
Steve Maguire, CISM
Cyber Professional | Rochford Hundred Rugby Club Chairman | Chair of Computacenter’s Armed Forces Network.
The furore over the ‘Wannacry’ attacks that affected the NHS recently, brought to the fore the need to tackle cyber-crime head on - given the devastating potential for it to strike right at the heart of our core infrastructure. The naivety of this threat by many organisations is creating a space for criminals to exploit; knowing that there is little that many companies can do to contain and eradicate an attack before it spreads to sometimes devastating effect.
Last year nearly half of all companies registered in the UK experienced at least one cyber-attack. Of those companies 45% did not have a Cyber-Security plan!
What is the future for recruitment within the cyber security industry? There’s no shortage of jobs out there, recruitment agencies should be rubbing their hands together; but increasingly many recruiters have accepted that they have reached peak supply. With the demand for personnel at breaking-point, why are recruiters still reticent to put forward candidates with the desired skills but no previous experience, despite the army of talent out there?
The Chicken and Egg Problem
Organisations worldwide are increasingly transitioning to information technology in order to keep up with the cut-and-thrust of the current market. This has created a huge number of vacancies within the cyber-security industry. With entry level salaries higher than most sectors right now, it comes as no surprise that many desire a career in cyber-security.
Herein lies the problem: a recent government paper on cyber-security predicted that there will be somewhere in the region of circa 300,000 vacancies in this sector by 2020. To put this into perspective, this is around double the workforce of the entire Barclays corporation. One of the main reasons of why this is happening right now, is that around 94% of hiring-managers insist that candidates have previous experience prior to placement.
The Military Solution
My journey into the cyber security industry took me from the military – to the police and finally into cyber security. My journey wasn’t an easy one, many CV’s were submitted, many times I was knocked back and many times I felt like giving up, but I didn’t. I believe my tenacity to succeed emanated from my time as a Paratrooper. It’s a well-known fact that the Parachute Regiment does not give up; values, including an insatiable desire to succeed, as well as integrity, diligence and professionalism finally got me to my destination. I do however wish there was somebody out there who specialised in mentoring veterans into this field; it could have built the bridges I required to traverse the choppy waters of recruitment, more easily.
The values that I espoused over the course of my military service are reflected throughout our military services. With over 12,000 leavers a year, there is a fantastic opportunity for organisations to take advantage of this pool of operational experts. With a wealth of transferable skills, fit for a sector that is crying out for people that are stoic under pressure; military personnel are just the kind of people that organisations need to reach out to.
All the ducks are in a row when it comes to military resettlement; compared to other careers the lucrative resettlement budgets boasted by the military, including funding for annual learning credits are helping to prepare military personnel for the challenge of civilian life. All this investment in military resettlement could go to waste, if demand continues to outstrip supply due to the current assumptions around recruitment.
How Can I Help...
My role is to coach then mentor military personnel through this process so that they get to a point of taking their first steps into the cyber security industry. In my opinion, there are no better practitioners than are within our military. I can help with the recruitment gap, but only if organisations are willing to invest in this nurtured talent. I'll finish with this: taking inspiration from the pioneer of science, Aristotle: ‘Give me the soldier of 27 and I will show you the Cyber Security expert!
If you are interested in finding out more; if you are interested in hiring or are looking to transition, or have any questions, please comment and link in.
I help CxO`s build a business-driven, holistic view of security to effectively manage business risk controls. Enabling world class fundamentals upon which sustainable and efficient transformation can be built.
7 年Steve Maguire a great article and one that I echo in a huge way, after leaving the Military just over three years ago and having had experience in the JCU I took my first civilian role outside of security due to lack of opportunities. It was a great first year that allowed me to make the first step in my transitional journey and clearly identify where I wanted to take my career and trough the tenacity and determination that you spoke of I ignored the knock backs of lack of experience and found my foot in the door moment and have not looked back. It is a great industry and one where we need companies to realise the short term expense in retraining those with the core skills will hugely benefit them and the whole industry both in the U.K. and globally. In my experience so many companies look to grow from graduates or would like the seasoned professional and miss the huge amount of talent out there looking for a career change. In terms of military leavers companies could reach out to the Career Transition Partnership to begin the relationship but the CTP also need some educating as they lack the knowledge of this industry so I paved my own way. Steve it sounds like you are doing superb work and please let me know if I can ever help.
Hey Steve, great article and it really highlights some of the obstacles set by employers, wanting the full packaged deal rather than looking to upskill people who are dedicated in achieving something!! Best of luck with your future endeavours...
CISSP | CISM | CCSP | ACCISO | CISMP | CCAK | MBCS | Senior Information Security & Compliance Analyst I Cyberfirst Ambassador I Security behavior alchemist I FAIR Institute member & Cyber risk quantification advocate
7 年Steve, great article. There's no such thing as coincidence. I Will be in transition soon and looking to get into this field.
Health & Safety Manager
7 年Good article Steve, well written.