- MK Palmore worked at the FBI for 22 years and served as a director at Google’s CISCO for about three years.
- He told BI there is a high demand and talent shortage for cybersecurity roles.
- Palmore said cybersecurity roles are needed across all business sectors and are here to stay.
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This essay is based on a conversation with MK Palmore, Office Director, Google Cloud. Information Security Director. This essay has been edited for length and clarity.
I am the Director of the Google Office of the Cloud Chief Information Security Officer.
I’ve been using Google Cloud for about three and a half years now, and Palo Alto Networks before that. Prior to that, I had a long and very extensive career in the U.S. federal government, including 22 years in the FBI and five years in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Cybersecurity is one of the most dynamic career fields in the industry today, across all business variables.
Every company needs cybersecurity experts. You’ll notice that we have a lot of involvement in the technology sector. Agricultural companies, trucking companies, logistics, operations, why Definitely in financial services.
By becoming a cybersecurity expert and developing your skills, you basically become popular all over the world. All commercial industries. Being trained and professionally experienced, we got most of the opportunities we wanted because our numbers were so small.
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I have been observing both threat landscape issues and cybersecurity workforce issues for about 10 to 15 years. I’ve seen the relative importance of the role of cybersecurity professionals gain tremendous momentum. We are working across all fronts as we begin to recognize the importance of our digital footprint and digital skills needs to our ability to operate around the world.
The information we exchange is so sensitive from a privacy perspective that protecting that information and the assets it carries has become a top priority for businesses around the world.
As a company, we want to be in a position to help people and protect these assets and the information they hold.
Cybersecurity needs not met
One thing is clear. There are hundreds of thousands of jobs here in North America and probably over a million globally. As the industry continues to grow in importance, availability of talent remains a challenge. In all industries.
What we’re seeing in the industry right now is that we can’t bring people on board fast enough. This means we are a bit behind in terms of filling our pipeline with viable candidates.
Unless you are one of the few who have actually specialized in a newly available cybersecurity specialization in our education system, there is no clear, direct path to cybersecurity. Sure, computer science has been around for years, but even that doesn’t provide a direct path to a cybersecurity position.
Most cybersecurity professionals started their careers as IT professionals and transitioned at some point. But the problem is that we don’t yet have enough people to supply the strong pipeline we have or the open positions we have.
Ideally, the candidate will have completed relevant academic work or earned certifications across the cybersecurity spectrum, combined with some level of practical experience. There doesn’t necessarily need to be a lot, but there is a bias against people with practical experience.
The challenge in our industry is that the hands-on experience part can be difficult for new entrants. It is here that the gap continues to widen in terms of available candidates.
As an industry, we need to take a step back and start planning and changing to prepare for the challenges of the next three to five years, and that means we need to invest in that process.
We have a team called Grow with Google and other internal teams that pay special attention to what people will need to learn in the future, and we spend time developing courses, certificates, and opportunities for people to learn.
It’s a field that’s here to stay.
I believe that cybersecurity capabilities will continue to evolve in relevance over the next decade and beyond.
We haven’t even gotten to the point where we’re talking about cryptocurrency yet. In terms of post-quantum computing, cybersecurity will be relevant for a long time.
Those who decide to invest in this early in their careers will benefit, and whether they decide to transition into areas like operations, marketing, or other aspects of the business, anything they gain from a cybersecurity perspective will make them better businesses.
I’m sure there’s an emerging CEO out there somewhere with a cybersecurity background because they understand the importance and role of technology in their ability to drive business results.
