Ireland in short of cyber security professionals: study

Ireland's reputation as a leading global tech hub could be under threat as a result of the serious shortage of cyber security professionals, according to a new study by the world's biggest recruitment website Indeed.com.

The study indicated Ireland has the second highest number of open positions in the area of cyber security around the globe, after Israel.

Indeed.com is an American worldwide employment-related search engine for job listings launched in November 2004.

The increasing threat posed by hackers and cybercriminals led the rate of cyber security job vacancies in Ireland to increase by 41.2 percent between 2014 and 2016, but candidate numbers have failed to keep pace with this demand, according to the study.

The study showed that while Ireland has seen an overall reduction in the skills gap, severe skills shortages persist within certain fields.

Jobseeker interest in cloud security in Ireland only meets 9 percent of demand, while in the United States it's somewhat better at 22.9 percent. Likewise, Ireland has a severe shortage for application security with supply only meeting 20.6 percent of demand, it said.

Among Ireland's employers, the field with the highest employer demand was network security, it added.

This accounted for 175.6 percent more demand than application security which is in second place, according to the jobs website.

Commenting on the study, Mariano Mamertino, Indeed's economist for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said that the threat of cyber attack is a significant risk for Ireland, given it is one of the most dynamic technology and business hubs in Europe.

"Ireland has made some progress in closing its skills gap, but addressing the chronic shortage of IT professionals is a major priority in order to continue to attract business and investment," he added. Endit