GUEST COMMENT: There will be a bidding war for IT security talent
IT security experts and cyber forensic professionals working in the financial sector are already hot property, but the UK governments new National Security Strategy is likely to see their stock rise even further.
One of the major focuses of the government's national security strategy white paper is the growing threat of cyber terrorism. Like many countries, the UK is potentially vulnerable to attacks from terrorist groups, foreign states and criminals, suggests the report.
But the Olympics, which will put London firmly on the map, also makes it a prime target. Another driver is simply the increased importance of computer networks in daily life.
By 2015, there will be more networked devices in the world than humans. The single greatest source of serious cyber threats comes from Chinese spies using advanced computer hacking to penetrate government departments and firms to steal secrets and valuable industrial technology.
What this means, is the start of a bidding war for the severely limited numbers of cyber forensics and IT security professionals in the UK. To combat the threat posed by attackers seeking to hijack computers to steal secrets, damage the economy, and paralyse national services, MI5, the Metropolitan Police and other state institutions will need lots of new staff.
Even if Britain's blue-chip security services do stop the attacks from the 20 espionage networks currently operating against the UK's interests, it's the banks that will pay the price.
Why? Because the government will have to poach their best IT staff. It's a limited pool of talent, a large proportion of IT security experts work in the City. There are only about 2,200 people qualified for top-level IT Security roles in the whole country. It's a simple case of supply and demand.
The roles are extremely specialist and there are a lot of hoops to jump through before you reach that level. IT professionals take networking positions to gain experience, then qualifications in CCSA, CCSE, VPN solutions, Firewall, and remote access. Finally, they need to become accredited as Certified Information Systems Security Professionals. It's a lengthy qualification process.
Of the roughly 2,200 people with that qualification in the UK, there are maybe only 530 in London and a significant percentage of them work in the City's financial institutions.
They are already relatively valuable. A head of security at a bank should command a salary of approximately 100k a year. But remuneration packages are bound to rise in the ensuing war for cyber security talent. Expect a bidding war.
Paul Winchester is the managing director of IT recruiter Greythorn
