Lack of IT-Skilled Human Workers is Leading to a Cyber Pandemic – 500,000 Cybersecurity Jobs Unfilled in the U.S.
As the full effects of the Microsoft glitch that took down so many businesses and government agencies this past Friday are still being evaluated, the vulnerability of a software system run by a cybersecurity firm is presenting new information to hackers and exposing just how unprepared the U.S. Government is to protect our country against cyber attacks that are a real threat to national security. After the CrowdStrike failed software update that infected 8.1 million devices with cascading effects spreading to millions, if not billions, of other devices and computer systems, the threat of a Cyber Pandemic is now very real. And the main reason that the U.S. Government is powerless to stop something like a Cyber Pandemic is not because of a lack of technology or computer resources, since the U.S. is home to the largest technology companies in the world, but it is due to a lack of human resources: Cybersecurity professionals. In 2021 CNN published an article with the title: "Wanted: Millions of cybersecurity pros. Salary: Whatever you want". The article highlighted the increasing cyber attacks in the U.S. and the lack of cybersecurity experts to prevent these attacks, with over 300,000 cybersecurity job openings going unfilled. Fast forward to today in 2024, and the situation has only become worse. A few weeks ago (June, 2024), members of Congress raised concerns over the shortage of cybersecurity professionals, which has now grown to a half million open jobs that cannot be filled.