Corporate India is on the hunt for cybersecurity talent. Amid data breaches, progressive regulatory expectations and introduction of generative artificial intelligence platforms making security controls and processes vulnerable, companies are beefing up their cybersecurity teams across levels. They are hiring experts in threat intelligence, security operations, incident response, cloud security, network security, data archival and compliance, among other areas.

Top priority for business continuity
As cyberthreats continue to evolve in sophistication and frequency, organizations must prioritize cybersecurity to safeguard sensitive data, protect against cyberattacks, and ensure business continuity, said Tony Buffomante, global head of cybersecurity and risk services at IT firm Wipro. To hire “cybersecurists”, the Bengaluru-based company is tapping into the global talent market, he said. The company has more than 9,000 cybersecurity specialists and 12 global cyber-defence centres in 60 countries, and invests in training and upskilling initiatives to ensure that employees stay abreast of the latest security trends, technologies and best practices.

The skill sets that companies are looking for in cyber experts include proficiency in programming languages and an understanding of computer networking, operating systems, and cloud computing.

TOP THREAT TO COS
At least two recent surveys cite cyber risks as the biggest threat facing organizations today. According to PwC’s 2023 Global Risk Survey, 38% of organizations feel highly or extremely exposed to cyber risks. In Aon’s latest Global Risk Management survey, cyberattack/data breach is the No.1 risk facing Indian businesses, up from the seventh position in 2021. HDFC Bank is scaling up in the areas of digital, application programming interface (API), cloud, data protection and cyber resiliency, amid the emerging and evolving threat landscape, regulatory and customer expectations and new tech trends.“Security-embedded digital is the future as it not only involves internal IT assets but also the vendor-regulatory ecosystem. This is an area where we are focusing right now so that customers can transact safely and securely,” said Sameer Ratolikar, senior executive vice-president and chief information security officer at the country’s largest private sector lender. API security is going to be a focus area where the bank is looking to hire senior and mid-level professionals. Securing customer data, especially after the enactment of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, is now a must, and securing business-sensitive data is going to be an important area, he said.Software company Zoho is looking for security engineers, threat analysts, incident responders, digital forensic experts, ethical hackers, data privacy professionals, and risk and compliance analysts, said Mohammed Sohail, associate director — talent acquisition and global HR operations.

Jobs uptick
Data shared by job matching and hiring platform Indeed show that job postings for cybersecurity increased by 7.5% between April 2023 and April 2024. Among Indian cities, Bengaluru tops in cybersecurity employment, followed by Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Gurugram.

Senior and mid-level talent is also seeing a surge in demand.

Recruitment services firm Michael Page has seen a 35% increase since last year in mandates for cybersecurity professionals at the mid and senior levels.

“At the leadership levels, we’re seeing demand for CISO/info-security and cybersecurity professionals, data protection officer, cyber defence head, cloud security head, etc. At the mid-levels, companies are hiring for security architects/consultants, DevSecOps (development, security and operations), OT security (operation technology security), network security, etc.,” Pranshu Upadhyay, regional director of Michael Page India, told ET.

There is a limited pool of candidates who have managed the complexity and scale of cybersecurity risks in the past, who have the understanding of future risks in India, said Agamjeet Dang, CEO at executive search firm Executive Access.

“Expat talent is tapped from abroad, from Big Tech or Big Data companies, or from large multinational banks, where someone has handled a global charter and is willing to bring their experiences to India,” said Dang.