Shortage of IT security professionals to reach 1.8 million by 2022, survey shows

Companies will face a shortage of 1.8 million qualified information security personnel by 2022, according to a survey by Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. and ISC2.The study, which includes feedback from over 19,000 information security professionals worldwide, indicates employers must look to millennials to fill the information security workforce gap projected for 2022. The gap represents an increase of 20 percent from the 1.5 million worker shortfall forecast by the 2015 study.

“For years, we’ve known about the impending shortage of the information security workforce, as evidenced by our study year over year,” said David Shearer, CEO, (ISC)². “Millennials truly are the future of cybersecurity, and (…) they hold the key to filling the well-publicized information security workforce gap.”

The survey was carried out from May through September 2016 by Frost & Sullivan.

The average CIO made $277,700 in 2016, according to the State of the CIO Survey. IT executives at enterprises with 1,000 or more employees earn $401,500, on average, compared to $189,420 at companies with fewer than 1,000 employees. Regardless of company size, strategic CIOs are likely to earn significantly more: an average of $167,000 more than functional CIOs and an average of $127,000 more than transformational CIOs. Strategic CIOs are also significantly more likely to report to the CEO, the study’s authors say.

As Business Insights previously noted, a third of Fortune 100 boards include a director who is a CIO, while the number of CIOs serving on Fortune 100 boards has increased 74% in the past two years – mainly because they can address threats and risks associated with information security. Gartner also confirms the increased importance of this position, as some 71% of managers say IT risk management data influences decisions at the board level.