“The security professional’s job is becoming less technical and more managerial… It means understanding the business needs and being able to speak to business people in terms they can understand.”
This year’s ISC(2)/Frost & Sullivan survey showed a marked increase in the number of security professionals who consider “communication skills” to be a critical part of their jobs. At the same time, however, fear of security breaches and the associated fallout has brought a new level of urgency — and tension — to the security pro’s day.
In a study published earlier this week by Amplitude Research and VanDyke Software, 50 percent of network administrators surveyed said that “securing remote access” was their chief concern, reflecting a growing concern about increasingly mobile employees.
“Growing awareness of the damage caused by security breaches, together with the increasing demand for a more mobile and remote workforce, will keep the worldwide market for security software buoyant,” said Gartner, which published its annual security software forecast earlier this week. Gartner predicts that the security market will continue to grow despite a poor economy, thanks in part to growing fear about breaches and the threat they pose to business.
Schmidt, who has been a top security officer at eBay, Microsoft, and the White House, said he was surprised at the concern displayed over potential damage to the corporate reputation, given that most of the companies which have publicly disclosed their breaches have suffered only temporary embarrassment. In fact, the question now is not how precarious the security manager’s job is, but what it may evolve into, Schmidt observed. “As it becomes more about risk, security is not necessarily an IT problem.”
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