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Gamers might be the answer to plugging the cybersecurity skills gap

In news that will annoy parents everywhere, gamers are being slated as the next step to closing the cybersecurity skills gap.

The news comes to us by way of a survey commissioned by McAfee. The survey drew upon 300 senior security manager and 600 security professionals in firms with 500 or more employees. These firms are located in the US, UK, Germany, France, Singapore, Australia and Japan.

The survey hoped to find out what key issues security organisations faced in terms of threats, technology and skills.

The issue of skills is a big one because as we know cybersecurity is constantly evolving as the threat landscape becomes more complex and criminals get smarter.

The answer to lessening this skills gap is oddly enough gamers.

“Three-quarters of senior managers say they would consider hiring a gamer even if that person had no specific cybersecurity training or experience,” says McAfee in its report.

As many as 92 percent of respondents said that they believe gaming teaches players skills critical to threat hunting. Skills such as logic, perseverance and understanding of how to approach threats give gamers a fresh outlook on cybersecurity compared to those who don’t.

The McAfee report also reveals that firms which do gamification exercises (including activities such as bug bounties, hackathons and capture the flag events) are not only safer (77 percent of respondents reported this) but also teach teams the importance of fast, effective cybersecurity.

So to all the gamers out there, perhaps there is a career for you in cybersecurity.

[Source – McAfee]

 

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