Of the 2,250 security professionals who responded to the survey, 72% said that in 2011 their organization hired individuals specifically for information security roles, and 62% said they are looking to hire additional permanent or contract information security employees this year.
“This is the continuation of a good news story”, said W. Hord Tipton, the executive director of the (ISC)². “Demand [for information security professionals] is still up….Even with all the things that would be looked at as a negative factor in hiring, paying, and rewarding people, this increase in the demand stands out”, he told Infosecurity.
Tipton said that he expects a rise in demand, in particular for information security experts in critical infrastructure, banking, healthcare, and telecom sectors.
Of the organizations that are hiring, 81% said an understanding of information security concepts is an important factor in their hiring decisions. Other top factors included directly related experience (72%) and technical skills (76%).
Hiring managers identified the top skills they are looking for: operations security (55%), security management practices (52%), access control systems/methodology (51%), security architecture/models (50%), risk management (49%), telecom/network security (45%), applications/system development security (44%), and cloud/virtualization (35%).
More than half of those surveyed reported increased security risks in 2011, with 38% attributing most of that activity to mobile devices. Around 30% of respondents expect information security budgets and equipment purchases to increase in 2012.
Roughly 34% reported an increase in new hires last year, and 51% plan to hire information security staff this year. Of those, 62% plan to hire one to two people, and 22% plan to hire three to four.
“If we keep finding ways to offset some of the demand for security personnel with technology and accelerate the educational front in order to fill the pipeline, then maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel so that we can address that demand”, Tipton said.