Monday Morning Impact – October 21
ISACA: Cybersecurity Job Stress Gets Worse
Two-thirds of cybersecurity professionals say job stress is growing, according to a recent study by ISACA, a Schaumburg, Illinois-based technology trade association.
In an annual survey of more than 1,800 cybersecurity pros, 66 percent reported an increase in stress over the last five years, largely driven by increasingly complex threat landscapes (81 percent), low budgets (45 percent), hiring/retention challenges (45 percent), insufficient training (45 percent), and inadequate management prioritization of cybersecurity.
Meanwhile, 38 percent of organizations are experiencing increased cybersecurity attacks, compared to 31 percent a year ago. These top attack types include social engineering (19 percent), malware (13 percent), unpatched system (11 percent) and Denial of Service (11 percent). Nearly half (47 percent) expect a cyberattack on their organization in the next year, and only 40 percent have a high degree of confidence in their team’s ability to detect and respond to cyber threats.
“Social engineering attacks, such as phishing, are a growing concern for organizations as human error remains a major factor in data breaches,” said Mike Mellor, VP of Cyber Operations at Adobe, the sponsor of the report. “With the increasing frequency and sophistication of these attacks, it’s essential for organizations to adopt secure authentication methods to strengthen their defenses. Adobe believes that fostering a deep security culture among all employees through anti-phishing training, combined with stronger controls such as zero-trust networks protected by phishing-resistant authentication are essential in safeguarding any organization.”
Employers seeking qualified candidates for open roles are prioritizing prior hands-on experience (73 percent) and credentials held (38 percent). Respondents indicate that the main skills gaps they see in cybersecurity professionals are soft skills (51 percent)—especially communication, critical thinking and problem solving—and cloud computing (42 percent).
For the more than half of survey respondents (55 percent) that reported having difficulties retaining qualified cyber candidates, the main reasons for leaving included being recruitment by other companies (50 percent, down eight points from 2023), poor financial incentives (50 percent), limited promotion and development opportunities (46 percent), and high work stress levels (46 percent).
Channel Impact®
Partners can help companies to address the issues around occupational stress, and explore ways to support staff before burnout and attrition occur.
CompTIA: Tech Unemployment Declines
The unemployment rate for technology occupations fell to 2.5% in September, the steepest month-over-month decrease in four years, according to analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics by CompTIA, a suburban Chicago-based industry association.
Tech industry employment increased by 8,583 net new positions for the month, according to the report. New hiring was primarily driven by the subsectors of cloud infrastructure, data processing and hosting (+6,000) and tech services and custom software development sector (+2,900).
Across the entire economy, tech occupation employment increased by 118,000 new positions. The significant increase pushed the tech unemployment rate back down to 2.5%, well below the national unemployment rate. An estimated 6.4 million professionals are employed in core tech occupations by companies of all types across the economy.
“It was never really a question of if, but when, employers were going to resume hiring,” Tim Herbert, chief research officer, CompTIA. “A broad mix of companies viewed recent economic developments as the greenlight to move forward in addressing their tech talent needs.”
Employer job postings for future tech hiring climbed for the second consecutive month, to more than 516,000 active postings, including 225,000 new listings added in September. Job openings for tech support specialists and database administrators saw the largest percent change increases for the month at 14%.
The Washington (15,104), New York (13,291) and Dallas (10,676) metropolitan areas had the most job postings for the month, but markets such as Portland (OR), Lansing (MI), Trenton (NJ), Des Moines (IA) and Virginia Beach (VA) were also active.
Channel Impact®
Partners are glad to see the rebound in the wake of numerous layoffs throughout the industry.
Extreme Networks Taps Industry Veteran as Head of Security Sales
Extreme Networks has announced the hire of veteran security executive David Nuti as Head of Security Sales.
Nuti has extensive experience in cybersecurity, including the merging of network automation and cloud-native security. In his new role, he’ll work to advance Extreme’s cybersecurity revenue growth and drive the strategy and expansion of Extreme’s Universal Zero Trust Network Access (UZTNA) solution. He will report to Nabil Bukhari, General Manager of Extreme’s subscription business.
Previously, Nuti served as Chief Business Development Officer at Exium, a provider of SASE solutions, and was the SVP of North America for Nord Security’s B2B and enterprise business practice. He also held several leadership positions at Aryaka Networks.
“Security is top of mind for every C-Suite executive. Evolving threats and explosive data growth are creating new challenges for organizations, and they must be vigilant in balancing innovation and growth with rising security concerns,” said Nuti. “I am excited to bring my expertise to help our customers better leverage Extreme’s security solutions to create more operational efficiency and excellence across their organizations.”
“The market is rapidly evolving, with increasing demand for integrated, AI-enhanced security solutions that address the complexities of modern digital ecosystems,” added President and CEO Ed Meyercord. “Dave brings the gravitas and grit to help Extreme elevate its security leadership to the next level.”
Channel Impact®
Nuti’s expertise in leading sales and business development at top security companies is expected to enhance and accelerate Extreme’s security initiatives.
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