Skills shortage leaves UK “dangerously exposed” to cyberattacks

Systems for training the skilled professionals needed to secure the UK’s cyber data are no longer fit for purpose, industry experts have warned.

A statement issued by De Montfort University (DMU), said an “outmoded and fragmented 20th Century training ecosystem risks leaving UK businesses dangerously exposed to 21st Century cyber threats.”

Sector specialists are urging government intervention to take a new approach that would provide consistent role definitions, skills standards, and career progression across sectors.

They added that as the UK government prepares its updated National Cyber Strategy, joined-up thinking is urgently required “to address the short-termism that has led to a national shortage of qualified cyber professionals and the absence of a unified skills framework.”

Five steps for government to secure UK cybersecurity skills

Dr Ismini Vasileiou, director, East Midlands Cyber Security Cluster (EMCSC), co-chair, UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration (UKC3), and associate professor, De Montfort University Leicester, has authored a new whitepaper that sets out five steps for the government to secure UK cybersecurity skills.

It recommends that government should:

1. Establish a DSIT-led taskforce to co-create a UK Cyber Skills Taxonomy
2. Establish a national delivery body to govern the taxonomy
3. Incentivise employer adoption of standardised, skills-based recruitment
4. Align education and career pathways to real-world cyber roles
5. Scale regional skills alignment through a National Implementation Framework.

Dr Vasileiou said: “Recent arrests in relation to cyberattacks on M&S and Co-op show the real and growing threat faced by UK citizens and businesses.

“What doesn’t make the headlines is the UK’s chronic shortage of cyber professionals. There’s currently a mismatch between Government industrial ambition and educational reality. We won’t secure a 21st Century digital economy with a 20th Century skills pipeline.”

Dan Aldridge MP, chair, APPG for Cyber Innovation, said ensuring everyone can develop cyber skills will help constituents and local businesses safe.

“Without such a foundation, we risk perpetuating the very gaps we are striving to close, and undermining the government’s mission of sustainable digital transformation,” he warned.

“This whitepaper highlights widespread consensus on the need for a shared language and structure for cyber skills, and we urge our colleagues across Parliament to treat this white paper not as another strategy, but as a call to action, to help build a cyber workforce that is as dynamic and diverse as the challenges we face.”