The Art Of Hiring Top Talent: Cybersecurity Executive Search

What’s more important for businesses and corporations today than to implement a cybersecurity framework? Finding the right people who can create and manage it.

An IBM report states that the average cost of a data breach in the U.S. is $9.4 million, more than twice that of the global average. It’s not a surprise that businesses are recruiting cybersecurity professionals for protection on the cyber front.

And often, it is the recruiting companies that they rely on for the task.

‌How Important Is The Role Of Cybersecurity Recruiters Today?

Cybersecurity is now ingrained in businesses, unlike their traditional existence in a sub-rosa manner. A business is more likely to invest in protection when it understands the threats. As stats say, organizations across the globe are already doing so. And an aspect of such investment is to choose a recruiting company to find competent executives.

These companies help businesses in their cybersecurity executive search for threat analysis and mitigation. Both employers and job seekers rely on these recruiting companies to unite them. They do so by calibrating their efforts based on maturing client needs and current industry conditions.

In the changing world of cybersecurity, more than skills or expertise is expected from professionals. Protecting a business, its data, equipment, and customers from threats and cyber-attacks demands various qualities. But why are businesses looking for these professionals?

Radley Meyers, experienced in the cybersecurity sector, is one of the executive recruiters at SPMB. He mentions several reasons to explain this. For instance, no matter the size of a business, it deals with data and information. And that must be protected through security programs and foolproof techniques. Customers want to be assured that the business they are dealing with, can keep their data safe.

Recruiters neither draft cybersecurity policies nor are responsible for their execution. But, they connect businesses with cybersecurity professionals. It may be a high-ranking CISO (Chief Information Security Officer), an IT manager, or an entry-level employee. Their importance to both parties is therefore of the highest order.

Traits Of Cybersecurity Executives That Attract Recruiters

Here are the qualities that recruiters look for when recruiting cybersecurity professionals:

Work Ethics

Cybersecurity executives must understand and address the present security issues, and figure out security solutions for the future. This requires enthusiasm, acute diagnostic and analytical skills, and preferably methodical thinking.

Executives leading a business’ cybersecurity endeavors must not be afraid to learn, no matter their prior experience. At the same time, they must step out of their comfort zone and test newer tools to learn and adapt to contemporary standards and practices.

Communication And Management Skills

An executive in the cybersecurity industry needs top-notch communication skills. This is useful both in interacting with the users and other senior members of a corporation. The executive should not only simplify complex concepts to the audience but also patiently listen and address their concerns.

At the same time, they must effortlessly communicate with other professionals and junior employees they work with.  The individual when working in an executive capacity has to manage a team as well.

Together, the team must be capable of directing, planning, and performing assessments on network vulnerability, physical and wireless security, web applications, and more.

Executives must understand the social aspect of cyber attacks too, and thus social engineering. Hackers increasingly use methods of persuasion and exploiting emotions to achieve their goals, with around 82% of the attacks focusing on the human element. A cybersecurity executive must not fall prey to these tactics.

Technical Skills

Candidates with a technical background are preferred in an executive capacity in any cybersecurity department. This gives them an edge to understand and administer data, operating systems, networking, virtualization, software, and so on. These are the prime elements they are to work with, with executives requiring greater expertise over them.

And recruiters also see how experienced a candidate is with programming languages and software analysis. More overall experience means better risk-handling capabilities and efficiency. To apply for an executive position, the candidate may need to have certain certifications too, as demanded by the employers.

Ability To Implement

A cybersecurity professional has several responsibilities, like planning and executing cyber protection techniques for a company. However, they should be able to view the complete security setup, to identify the gaps in it.  This encompasses the entire IT infrastructure comprising equipment, devices, data, software, etc.

As an executive, he must not only be passionate about learning the security architecture of a given system. He must also be able to implement security measures in the setup to reduce its vulnerabilities.

Ability To See The Whole Picture

A business’s capability to tackle present and possible future threats depends on top-tier executives. The more intent they are to learn newer techniques, practices, and concepts in cybersecurity, the better. But that’s not all. Executives must also be updated about the newest regulations and guidelines about data and privacy.

While the hackers are kept at bay, this also helps the company avoid penalties arising from improper methods of data management.

Cybersecurity Executives Are Vital In The Landscape Of Business Security

As businesses embrace newer technology, they are increasingly exposed to cyber threats and hackers. These attacks can cripple a corporation and stain its reputation. For many, the latter proves to be more fatal.

Qualified cybersecurity professionals are out there, waiting for an opportunity. Thus, the role of cybersecurity recruiting is of great consequence in getting them onboard.

Read Also:

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• 5 Ways To Maximize Cybersecurity In Everyday Life