They witness
- Joris Vacas, consultant at Fed IT
- Benoit Grunemwald, Head of Product at ESET
- Laurent Delaporte, president of the consulting firm Akerva
- Jean-François Beuze, Sifaris CEO
- Lilian Planche, cybersecurity expert (France 3 video)
A growing sector that needs to recruit quickly
With the emergence of new forms of remote working, cyber threats have never been greater. Between January and April 2020, the volume of computer attacks related to Covid-19 increased by 30,000%, from 1,200 to 380,000, according to the provider Zscaler (4,000 customers worldwide and monitoring of 150 data center in the world). No wonder, then, that in France, 61% of business leaders expect an increase in their workforce in this areaaccording to the Global Digital Trust Insights 2021 study conducted by PwC.
Profiles specializing in cybersecurity are not numerous enough. Companies are therefore turning to all types of profiles, including those who do not come from the sector.
Benoit Grunemwald, Head of Product at ESET.Joris Vacas
” All companies are now affected by these computer attacks, from start-ups to large groups, including medium-sized companies, public administrations, hospitals, etc. “, explains Joris Vacas, consultant at Fed IT. De facto, the specialized companies and the software providers are no longer the only ones fighting to attract the best profiles. The town hallsthem SMEthem ministries seek in turn to recruit experts in cybersecurity, whether or not they come from the seraglio.
Benoit Grunemwald
” There are not enough specialized cybersecurity profiles given the demand generated by the Covid-19 crisis and the boom in connected objects. Companies are therefore turning to all types of profiles, including those who do not come from the sector,” confirms Benoit Grunemwald, Head of Product at ESET.
A rebound for engineers affected by the crisis
Engineers from related sectors such as IT, software publishing, cloud infrastructure, Big Data sare well positioned to land a place in cybersecurity. But they are far from the only ones.
Engineers from sectors impacted by the Covid-19 crisis can reasonably consider cybersecurity if they want to bounce back.
Laurent Delaporte, president of the consulting firm Akerva
“We recruited a former physics researcher who worked at the CEA in Grenoble. Even if this profile was far from cybersecurity, we put him in operations from day one, alongside a mentor. It took less than 6 months to be operational,” explains Benoit Grunemwald.
Laurent Delaporte
A far from isolated example. The engineers from sectors impacted by the Covid-19 crisis can reasonably consider cybersecurity if they wish to bounce back. ” Unitedaeronautical engineer, it is generally a well-made head, which has bases in fluid mechanics, in mathematics even in computer development. He can easily retrain in IT auditing, IoT or industrial system security since he will already know the standards in force. “, illustrates Laurent Delaporte, president of the consulting firm Akerva. ” An old iautomotive engineer who has worked on connected vehicles and emergency communication systems will have a head start when he works with a player such as the Renault/Nissan alliance, since he will know the logic of transmitting information specific to this sector”, he adds.
From chartered accountant to network and cybersecurity architect
Jean-Francois Beuze
Within the consulting firm Sifaris, executives who have gone through a retraining process are also welcomed. ” We count several collaborators from the industrial logistics who, after having followed a theoretical training offered by Pôle emploi, joined our team as a network and cybersecurity architect. We trained them for 6 months to a year in our practices and they are now in the customer service. Some have even left our company, which means they are employable “, illustrates Jean-François Beuze, the CEO. Beyond the level of skills, what matters is the interest of the profiles for the IT universe. ” We recruited people who “fiddled around” in their corners and who showed a strong appetite for our jobs. That’s what convinced us to train them “explains the CEO.
Less expected but still very relevant, the accountants they, too, exhibit qualities that are of interest to cybersecurity employers. Since one of their missions today is to audit their clients’ information systems, ” these profiles can be converted by leveraging their high sensitivity in terms of data security “says Joris Vacas.
Some major accounts like Thalès and Orange have their own in-house school and are therefore able to train unqualified profiles
Laurent Delaporte, president of the consulting firm Akerva
Training is recommended but not mandatory
Is the training stage compulsory for executives wishing to retrain? Not necessarily, assures Laurent Delaporte. ” Some major accounts like Thalès and Orange have their own in-house school and are therefore able to train unqualified profiles “, he explains. This is also the case for the “Big Four” (EY, PwC, KPMG and Deloitte) and banks. However, executives will find more opportunities if they have trained upstream.
There is a saying that the police make the best thieves. In cybersecurity, repentant profiles have no place.
Benoit Grunemwald
The good news is that training is structured in this still new field. The ANSSI (National Agency for the Security of Information Systems) has, for example, launched a labeling program called SecNumEdu aimed at improving the referencing of digital security training. Recognized in the sector, Troyes University of Technology offers about ten training courses accessible from a Bac+3 level and labeled SecNumEdu. They prepare students for careers as security incident analysts, network and security engineers, SOC experts, governance officers, etc.
In cybersecurity, however, showing a white paw is indisputable. ” There is a saying that the police make the best thieves. In cybersecurity, repentant profiles have no place. I prefer to accompany a manager from another sector than to hire a specialized profile who, in the past, has been on the other side of the barrier “warns Benoit Grunemwald.
Interview with Lilian Planche, cybersecurity specialist at Egis
At 10’20 of this video
