Cybersecurity: The profession with a guaranteed job in Latin America in 2020
Currently, cybersecurity is one of the main concerns in the world. The digital ecosystem continues growing by leaps and bounds until almost becoming our most important reality. It is estimated that data traffic will be 4.8 zettabytes (ZB) generated by 28.5 billion online devices by 2022 -almost twice the current number-. Consequently, companies and people, at any time, are vulnerable regarding the management of their information systems.
Latin America: fertile territory for digital security
According to Kaspersky company, in 2019 there were 42 malware attacks per second in Latin America, which meant an annual growth of 13%. Likewise, 6.4 mobile malware attacks per minute were detected during the current year; where Brazil takes the seventh place globally, Mexico the eleventh, followed in the region by the 3.8 attacks per second to the Colombians, with Argentinians, Chileans, and Peruvians in more distant positions. That is to say, LATAM is one of the territories most affected by cyber attacks, which in the same way turns it into one of the areas with the highest level of opportunities for the cybersecurity sector.
Cyber security experts: a seed in the region
At present, almost 50% of the companies prioritize the digital security topic and the majority will invest a large amount of money in reinforcing their lines. However, the demand is so considerable that it is foreseen that more than two million professionals specialized in cybersecurity will be necessary by 2022, it was stated by experts during the presentation of the first Cybersecurity Hub in Latin America. No wonder why it is a sector that has lacked unemployment in the last eight years and it is estimated a global shortage of 3.5 million specialists in the topic by 2021, where 630,000 will locate in LATAM; apart from representing a business that, according to Juniper Research company, will invest about 134 million dollars a year by 2022.
This means that cybersecurity specialist will be one of the jobs with the highest demand in the coming years and, consequently, one of the best paid. Due to the fact that concerning university careers or specialized courses are hardly being generated, it is still complicated to establish a salary percentage at Latin America level. However, by demand reasons, like all over the world, it will be among the ten best paid professions in the next five years. Only in Spain, a junior technician will start earning at least about 2700 euros a month; which in percentage could be well related to a salary in most of the Latin American countries.
Harvesting expertise: the different profiles of cybersecurity
Although the cybersecurity expert has a promising future, the industry has grown so much that specialization in specific areas is already necessary. Likewise, companies should implement a broad-based plan against cyberattack, evaluating and reporting the effectiveness in risk management and, by means of agile and innovative programs and techniques, develop the executive leadership focused on a committee of virtual contingencies.
Among the main threats at virtual level for 2020 are: manipulation of the public opinion by means of the use of social networks; data theft related to entertainment platforms like Netflix or Spotify; cyberattacks against critical infrastructures and public services; increase of all IOT devices (with the arrival of 5G); increase of malware for mobile devices; and also phishing, the resurgence of ransomware and the expansion of SIM Swapping as a service in Latin America.
For these reasons, it is important to precise the expertise towards determined points: to begin with, it is almost an obligation that the cybersecurity specialist has basic knowledge in law, because there is a regulatory field (RGPD, NIS o PSD2) which comes with the field of virtual security. Afterwards, certifications will have to be determined, among which, , the CEH Certified Ethical Hacker), the OSCP (Offensive Security Certified Professional), and the CHFI (Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator) stand out as being the most requested in the working world.
Since university education is just starting to develop the first careers with focus on cybersecurity, the digital education platforms are ahead regarding the topic. An example of that is Capabilia which has just launched CyberAcademy, a virtual school specialized in cybersecurity in partnership with the consulting company Deloitte. In that way, the online learning platforms consolidate as leaders in the sector; achieving, by means of digital education, to generate professionals in the digital security field which will always suppose tranquility and growth.
