Building Your IT Security Team? These are the Skills You Need

IT security has become a significant concern in the business world. In 2018, it is projected that $66 billion dollars will be spent on IT security. With the increased focus on IT security issues, more and more companies are bringing IT security in-house with the creation of their own IT security teams.

IT security teams include a CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) and other senior and junior level IT security professionals. Furthermore, when building your IT security team, it is essential to think about assembling a group of professionals who have diverse experience in all areas of IT security.

Skills Your New IT Security Team Should Bring to the Table   

IT Security is a broad discipline with multiple and varied components that complement each other. While there are many unique and niche IT security skills out there, a company can build a successful IT security team with a core group of primary IT security skills.

Just the Basics: The Core IT Security Skills

Security Architecture

Security architecture is one of the foundations of a good IT security program. A security architect must know how enterprise networks are built and function. They must be able to design security controls and gateways to protect sensitive data. A good security architect should also know a wide array of security tools and how to use them effectively.

Vulnerability Management

With most network breaches stemming from unpatched systems, having someone in charge of managing vulnerabilities and patching strategies is essential. A good vulnerability manager will have expert level knowledge about vulnerabilities as well as strong business risk acumen. They will know that not all vulnerabilities are equal and will be able to define a risk-based approach to remediation that considers the business impact.

Security Operations: The CISO and Security Operations Personnel 

Security operations is a critical component of any IT security program. A CISO must know what is going on in their networks. They must also be able to identify abnormal behavior that may be indicative of an intruder. Security operations personnel should know the signs of an attack. They should also be able to develop alerting and response procedures to counteract this activity. Security operations professionals should also have a basic incident response capability such as log collection and correlation and basic forensics analysis.

Nice to Haves: Penetration Testing and Incident Response

While essential to an IT security program, penetration testing and incident response are areas that don’t need to be in-house. While the first three critical components (security architecture, vulnerability management, and security operations) are full-time, year-round operations, penetration testing and incident response are typically point-in-time activities that (hopefully) don’t take place more than a few times a year.

Moving Forward

IT security is an integral part of running a business today. By building a well-rounded IT security team, you can enhance your current security posture and prevent future incidents.

In today’s environment, it can be very difficult to hire IT security professionals as they are in high demand. In the IT security world, there is negative unemployment with more jobs available than there are IT security professionals to fill them. It is projected that in 2019 there will be 1.5 million IT security job openings. Given this challenging hiring market, it’s best to consult a professional recruiter. At Open Systems, we are experts in the recruitment of IT security professionals. Contact us today to learn more!

 

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