A new report highlights challenges associated with cybersecurity hiring practices, including increased security risks associated with vacant cybersecurity positions.

The Cyber Security Hiring Crisis Report was released earlier this fall by Boston, MA-based cybersecurity research and staffing firm CyberSN. It was conducted by Chenxi Wang, Ph.D., founder of the Jane Bond Project. 

More than 50 hiring organizations were surveyed, revealing that a lack of real-time cybersecurity salary data results in rejected offers and delayed hiring processes. The study also uncovered:

• How internal organizational processes significantly lengthen the time to hire qualified cyber professionals.

• How low compensation offers cause offer turndowns.

• How organizations don’t engage appropriate recruiting channels to yield positive outcomes.

These hiring challenges increase business risk and ultimately contribute to the data breaches that have become commonplace today, according to the CyberSN’s report.

“The cybersecurity talent shortage is not an excuse for unfilled positions,” says CyberSN Founder and CEO Deidre Diamond about the open positions. She believes poor hiring practices are causing unnecessary stress and productivity breakdown.

Other key report findings include:

• Cybersecurity positions remain open for an average of six months before the company engages with an external recruiting firm.

• Hiring managers tend to use personal networks and social media rather than traditional HR recruiting channels.

• Despite regular salary reviews and adjustments, companies still have a difficult time meeting cybersecurity industry demands.

“Poor talent retention rates are getting even worse because open positions mean teammates are overworked! By the time an open position is filled it’s too late; another person on the team is now leaving due to being overworked,” says Diamond.

“This cycle continues over and over like a broken record; let’s stop this madness and apply the right resources to the job of finding cybersecurity talent.”

CyberSN is planning to also release a salary comparison tool in the future with the goal of empowering organizations and job seekers in the cybersecurity community by providing real-time, accurate salary data. In the meantime, for further insights from the report, visit cybersn.com/blog/the-cyber-security-hiring-crisis.