Yber security experts have decried the dearth of skilled human capital in the fight against cyber- attacks in Nigeria which has only 1800 professional in that space.
The experts are therefore seeking increased attention.
Oluseyi Akindeinde, chief technical officer, Digital Encode, expressed worries that Nigeria’s case in respect of skilled human resources to fight cyber-attack is very bad.
“It is true and also quite alarming. There’s a dearth of cyber security experts’ world over but much worse here owing to the fact that cyber security is an ever changing dynamic field and you have to consistently be up to date with global trends,” he said.
He urged that cyber security be included in the curriculum for computer science students.
“If that isn’t feasible a new course of study at the tertiary level that will be purely based on cyber security so that students can go to university to have a degree in cyber security.
That will by and large address the dearth of talent in the market,” he added.
According to William Makatiani, managing director, Serianu, “our research shows that Africa has around 10,000 cyber security professionals and a total of 1800 in Nigeria.
This is alarming and dangerous particularly for organizations in Nigeria and Africa.
“The real impact of these low numbers was felt at the height of last year’s Ransomware attacks where we did not have enough professionals to serve organizations.
Many cyber security professionals were contracted by established companies leaving the SMEs particularly vulnerable.
“Cyber security is a new field in Africa as such, the low numbers are not surprising. The large skills gap is also a world –wide concern.
“That said, this presents us with enormous opportunities and career paths, particularly for young people to innovate within this space.”
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek investigations revealed that it cost between $600 and $1500 to get an internationally recognized certificate in cyber security.
Makatiani however, offered ways to address this problem among which include widening of the target market.
“We cannot solve the problem by simply encouraging users to do more certifications. We need to widen the target market: Organizations tend to look for people with traditional technology credentials – IT, Computer Science etc.
