Dive Brief:

• Automation is needed in cybersecurity, but it will also require increased recruiting in the space, according to a report from DomainTools and the Ponemon Institute. Seventy-nine percent of respondents said they already use automation, or plan to do so in the next three years. But almost half of respondents said they're unable to adequately staff their IT function with skilled workers and that the gap in advanced security skills is driving up an investment in cyber automation. The report analyzed automation​'s impact on current IT staffing and security practices in the U.S., U.K. and Asia Pacific (APAC).
• In other survey results, 73% of respondents said that the IT security function is understaffed, and 65% believe human involvement is necessary in the age of automation. Continuing the recruiting theme among U.S. respondents, 48% said that automation will require employers to increase the number of hires with advanced skills.
• The report found that, on average, more than a third of IT team's incident tickets are marked as "severe/critical" each day, and 53% or respondents said their organization doesn't have enough personnel to monitor threats around the clock. According to Ponemon, these survey results are a sign that automation will improve the ability of teams to prioritize threats and weaknesses, and analyze them more quickly.

Dive Insight:

Although Ponemon's survey focuses on automation in the cybersecurity space, the impact of automation on job functions can also apply to other fields. The fear of automation taking away jobs is offset by predictions that the technology will usher in more jobs than it replaces, but these new positions will likely require higher-level skills.

The advanced skills that automation will require from workforces present a challenge for recruiters, who face skills shortages across disciplines and industries. As the Ponemon findings indicate, highly specialized fields like cybersecurity demands even more from recruiters because of the relative scarcity of talent able to enter them. When their organizations take laissez-faire approaches to cybersecurity, IT and HR departments are often forced to advocate for the need for increased staffing these departments — further complicating the recruiting process.

A skills shortage driven by automation will likely be overcome, in part, by increased training and upskilling programs. HR owns the expertise in human involvement in the age of automation, but must team up with IT professionals to determine what skills are vital in keeping their organizations safe from cyber breaches and thefts.