Shortage Of Cybersecurity Professionals. The Oxford Centre for Technology and Global Affairs recently published a Working Paper calling for a radical redefinition. Also, it called for an expansion of the cybersecurity field to incorporate non-technical disciplines. This includes “law, business strategy, and public policy” to ensure a more strategic approach:
Cybersecurity has become such a pressing concern for businesses and organizations – as well as individuals – that there is a widely reported shortage of “cybersecurity professionals.” And yet the description of the skills needed by such professionals is often narrowly drawn – skills centered around risk assessment, or around technical familiarity with a particular product or standard. In fact, the challenge for society is surely much broader than this. The cybersecurity skill shortage extends to other disciplines and areas of expertise such as law, business strategy, and public policy. Moreover, there is a particular dearth of talent that can understand and communicate across different domains; for example, individuals who can speak the language of a technical cybersecurity team. And yet who can also articulate concerns to a board or ministerial level in an accessible manner.
We created CSU College of Law’s new Master of Legal Studies in Cybersecurity and Data Privacy, with a structured curriculum and slate of courses to address this precise failure in the field to integrate legal and business dimensions into the technical side of cybersecurity. While the job titles for these new interdisciplinary positions are still in flux, there is an absolute need for technical and business professionals to understand the legal, policy and technical aspects of cybersecurity and data privacy. Our program teaches you all three of those, with an emphasis on legal and policy.
