Demand for cybersecurity executives is dramatically increasing as cyberattacks have grown and boards and company leadership sharpen their focus on data security, according to the quarterly Executive Monitor released today byBoyden Global Executive Search.  

"Organizations are intensively seeking senior cyber talent, though they are having a difficult time finding the right candidates," said Tim McNamara, Managing Partner, Boyden Washington D.C. and Co-Founder of the firm's Risk Management & Security sector. "It's a very complicated sector with bifurcated responsibilities. Consequently, there are multiple strategies to address cybersecurity needs among the commercial, military and defense, and intelligence segments."

The report covers the rise in Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Chief Security Officer (CSO) hiring, the clout of these roles within the executive suite, the need for a balance of technical and management skills, the debate over individual privacy versus collective security, and the mounting risk to corporate and government organizations. The Executive Monitor also includes industry-specific sections on financial services, healthcare and consumer/retail.

"Now more than ever before, because so many high-profile companies have suffered severe security breaches, these critical technical skills are in serious demand to ensure companies are able to save themselves from meltdown," said Vicky Maxwell Davies, Partner of Boyden UK. "Unfortunately, too many INFOSEC professionals have traditionally come up the audit route and don't combine the tech savvy with the business nous."

The new report from Boyden also focuses on the following topics affecting cybersecurity and risk management talent acquisition:

• C-suite and board increasing involvement in cybersecurity
• Disconnect between increasing responsibility of CISOs and CSOs versus decision-making authority
• Breaches and cost to corporate reputation
• Cooperation among competitor companies, particularly in financial services
• Growth trajectory of the cybersecurity industry to $170 billion by 2020

"It's the board's responsibility to challenge management to understand the strategic and systematic nature of an organization's cyber risk vulnerability and properly allocate resources for risk management," explained Richard Fudickar, Managing Partner of Boyden Germany. "It's also important to create awareness holistically within a company, going beyond IT to include all executives, HR and team members to treat data with the highest level of security. Management must understand that this issue is about people and behaviors, not just technology."
             
"There has been a great degree of formal and informal cooperation among the large Canadian financial institutions around cybersecurity issues including the sharing of information and best practices," added Kevin Gormely, Partner of Boyden Toronto. "There is recognition by these organizations, many of which are direct competitors, that they are all likely to be victims of a cybersecurity breach at one time or another."

The report concludes with a sidebar interview offering US and European perspectives from Scott Corzineand Alejandro Sanchez, cybersecurity and risk management experts with FTI Consulting.

The full Boyden Executive Monitor report is available at www.boyden.com.