Businesses recruit experts to combat threat of cyber attack

Businesses recruit experts to combat threat of cyber attack

Corporates are putting ever greater emphasis on the recruitment of specialists with the skills to reduce the risk of cyber attacks.

Global talent mapping and pipelining company Armstrong Craven has carried out a series of projects in the financial services sector, one of the more high-risk industries.

It says the Association of British Insurers’ call for a central database of cyber incidents could play a role in ensuring the best talent was deployed in the businesses facing the gravest danger.

The ABI says there is a need for a national, anonymised database recording details of cyber incidents at companies to be established if the UK is to become a world leader in cyber insurance.

Our Client Partner for Financial Services and Private Equity with Armstrong Craven, believes the database can be of benefit in other ways too.

She said: “One of the biggest challenges facing a business is knowing what skills they require within their organisation. The database would allow us to identify which businesses and sectors are most susceptible and then match them with the right structures and skill sets.

“We recently carried out a succession planning mapping assignment for the role of chief information security officer in a major financial services organisation. The role was extremely broad and cyber was one of several skill sets required.

“This contrasts with a growing number of corporates which are creating designated roles for cyber specialists.

“We have also completed an insight project for an insurance client which wanted to understand the optimal organisational structure for a number of different areas including digital. They wanted to know what best practice looked like in other sectors as well as their own. This included how others were addressing the cyber issue.

“The talent financial services firms need to attract is very different to the kind of talent they are used to recruiting. Candidates are coming from a digital world, often from another sector. Some corporates are going as far as creating dedicated work areas for their digital talent, far removed from the traditional financial services suit and tie environment.

“Because the cyber risk is a fast emerging area, the talent is scarce and therefore in high demand. Organisations are moving fast to map and pipeline the best talent in this very specialist field to ensure they have the best possible strategy in place in the event of attack.”

www.armstrongcraven.com