Technology moves at a pace that’s getting faster by the minute. As the pace of innovation accelerates, bad actors track those same advancements for opportunities to exploit. Hackers attack a computer in the United States every 39 seconds, using increasingly sophisticated methods to target information systems. No one is immune to cyberattacks — not your grandmother, and not your organization. They affect everyone.
The global cybersecurity market is projected to grow from almost $218 billion USD in 2021 to more than $345 billion by 2026. In contrast, the cost of cybercrime is predicted to balloon to $6 trillion globally in 2021. According to Cybercrime Magazine, that number is anticipated to grow by 15% per year in the upcoming years, costing the global economy more than $10.5 trillion annually by 2025.
What’s more: the shift to remote work will further challenge companies to fortify their cybersecurity architectures. A 2020 report that surveyed 2215 IT professionals revealed worrying statistics: Only 44% of organizations felt they were sufficiently positioned to protect against cyberattacks, and 31% said they didn’t require remote workers to use authentication methods.
As work computers move outside of the office and inside the home, there is a stronger need for cloud security solutions, VPNs and other security endpoints. The need for cybersecurity and cloud security engineers is becoming more important than ever. The popularity of cybersecurity and cloud security roles has increased at companies across a variety of industries, with demand for these types of roles expected to increase by 39% by 2029. A growing reliance on cloud-based services and an increase in cyberattacks means hiring for these in-demand roles is vital to every company's growth and success.
“The demand for cybersecurity and IT security engineers is far exceeding the available talent market, making it all the more important that companies understand the skills they need and how to screen for them.” — Cole Goeppinger, Senior Vice President of Engineering at HackerRank
At HackerRank, we monitor trends in the popularity of technical job functions and skill sets closely. That’s why we added two full new roles — Cloud Security and Cybersecurity Engineer — and a host of accompanying skills to our Developer Skills Platform this October. As demand for these skills continues to grow, we’re committed to developing the fair, valid and reliable assessments hiring teams need to assess and hire the technical talent they need to thrive.
Meet Tech’s New In-Demand Roles: Cloud Security and Cybersecurity Engineers
Typically, “cloud security engineer” is an umbrella title for someone who has experience with engineering, architecture, and development. At a minimum, they should have three to five years of experience with cloud services and a background in building or designing web services in the cloud.
When hiring a cybersecurity engineer or IT security engineer, you should look for someone with substantial experience performing information security functions that include the design, development, and implementation of highly secured network solutions that protect against cyberattacks and hacking threats.
HackerRank recognizes the need to effectively screen candidates in this growing field and have launched new assessments for these two cybersecurity roles within the HackerRank Library. Within these roles, we support five critical skills:
Additionally, we have added 20 new DevOps Kubernetes challenges, 14 new capture-the-flag (CTFs) challenges, and 85 new multiple-choice questions. These questions, challenges and pre-defined tests are available to all HackerRank customers. Kubernetes Security, however, is currently available only for customers with Projects enabled.
For those interested in learning more about these roles, or to see the full listing of skills we can assess, check out the HackerRank Skills Directory.
Stay tuned for future blogs on the importance of the growing fields of cybersecurity and cloud security. If you're currently hiring for cybersecurity or cloud security engineers, you can gain full access to these screening questions and more by signing up for our Developer Skills Platform. It's completely free for 14 days — register today!
