Talent development and retention
One of the most challenging tasks of any security manager’s life is finding a devoted, enthusiastic, and intellectual team member. It is a known fact that globally, there is a shortage of relevant skills. Hence, attracting the right talent to your organization is even more crucial. There is no single answer to this challenge. Let’s look at a few ideas that management can implement.
Cyber labs
First, you can encourage employees to set up a home lab or use one provided by the company. Labs may be used to put real-world circumstances to the test, as well as to practice and master new abilities. For the vast majority of individuals, hands-on learning is the greatest way to learn, and in a lab, there is no chance of introducing risk into a production setting.
Capture-the-Flag and hackathons
Capture-the-Flag (CTF) competitions can be hosted at the company workplace. Such challenges help with cross-training, team building, and communication. CTFs and hackathons are the best staples for most of the young and vibrant cybersecurity conferences out there. They also offer any company one of the best places to locate fresh talent if they are trying to hire or expand the security team. Participants demonstrate not only their knowledge, but also their communication skills, teamwork abilities, and desire to assist and educate others.
Research and development projects
Developing an in-house project or finding some relevant projects from the open source communities is another possibility. Most open source projects require documentation or other help in various security areas. Security staff may find that this motivates them to showcase their skills in the public arena. So, for an organization to allow their staff to spend their time on such community projects could be seen as a magnet that attracts talent.
Community outreach
Allowing and encouraging staff to attend industry conventions or even local meetups is a great way to inculcate continuous learning habits. Attending a conference alone has its advantages, but the security staff may go further by preparing talks and presentations or even volunteering to help with the events. Moreover, this provides opportunities for the staff to network and build connections. This is a vital skill, especially for the Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) staff.
Mentoring
The company leadership team may help by mentoring young and fresh talent. Mentoring may be a great learning experience both on and off the work. This helps the security team learn more about the organization and feel more connected with the senior executives. Moreover, this motivates the staff to build a career path and network across the organization and business lines.
Continuous unhindered learning
The skills that are required to safeguard the business network are continually evolving as the cybersecurity industry adapts to manage emerging threats with new TTPs. Some studies showcase that in as little as 3 months, cyber professionals who do not continue to study fall behind and become much less successful. Tactics adopted by unethical hackers are evolving all the time; shouldn’t the blue team staff evolve as well?
Helping staff continuously learn is critical for keeping the organization safe and secure in today’s fast-paced cyberspace. Stakeholders are advised to adopt ongoing cyber training and reap the benefits of a high Return on Investment (ROI) in terms of security and productivity. Continuous and unhindered cybersecurity training allows the blue teamers to grow and refresh their knowledge while on the job, allowing them to keep current with industry trends. Even better, cyber professionals who have received on-the-job training perform the best to defend against attacks on time. Frequent training and certifications empower the blue team to swiftly detect and efficiently deal with incident response instances. Many firms invest in new, advanced security solutions to keep ahead of cyber threats. However, due to a lack of time or resources to understand how to utilize them, cyber professionals are sometimes unable to completely appreciate or apply the technology, resulting in them not having the edge over cyber criminals. To use new technologies, cyber experts must constantly learn new approaches and stay current.