By K Sanjay Kumar Gurudin IPS | Sep 12, 2018

There are no signs that the cyber criminals are limiting their talent pool- and cybercrime is now a $445 billion business. The average company handles a bombardment of 200,000 security attacks per day. Cybercriminals are becoming increasingly more organized and aggressive, while the teams defending against these attacks are struggling to fill their ranks. A report from Frost & Sullivan and (ISC) found that the global cybersecurity workforce will have more than 1.5 million vacancies by 2020. So, what's causing the talent shortage?

One of the big reason is that security businesses tend to look for people with traditional technology credentials, for example, college degrees in tech fields. But security is truly everyone's problem; virtually every aspect of personal and professional data is at risk. So why are we limiting security positions to people with four-year degrees in computer science, when we desperately need varied skills across so many different industries? At the same time students are unaware about the career scope in cybersecurity professions for instance: - Security consultant, Penetration tester, Ethical Hacker, Security auditor, Security analyst, Security programmer, Incident responder, Security architect, Intrusion analyst.

IT companies should open themselves up to applicants (non-traditional) who could bring new ideas to the position and the challenge of improving cybersecurity. Some characteristics of a successful cybersecurity professional simply can't be taught in a classroom: unbridled curiosity, passion for problem-solving, strong ethics and an understanding of risks. People with these traits and technical skills should be quickly picked up. The United Kingdom is going one step further and encouraging those at school-level to develop an interest in cybersecurity. The UK Government has established an initiative known as the 'Cyber Schools Programme'. As India's leading cybersecurity event(c0c0n), we bring together professionals from all sides of the field from across the globe, to give the next generations perspectives and insights on cyberworld and this could also tackle the advancing challenges of cyber threats and filling the gap of CYBER TALENTS.

Cocon conference will offer a platform to the students to identify their cyber skills, and also help them find their hidden taste and aptitude to take up cybersecurity as their career. This conference will give exposure to the latest cyber issues and career connected to it such as Data Security & privacy, Blockchain Security and Privacy in Cloud, AI-based security, Network Security & Management, Cryptographic Security, Syntactic attacks and firewalls, IoT security, IT OT security, Hacking , Vulnerabilities, Identity and Access Management, Cyber Forensics, Threat Analysis and Management, Privacy and Security in Social Media and Mobile Systems Security.

C0C0N is an annual international cybersecurity, data privacy and hacking conference organized by the international public-private partnership led by the Kerala Police and The Society for the Policing of Cyberspace (POLYCYB) in association with Information Security Research Association (ISRA) and Kerala State IT Mission. It is a rare platform to discuss, showcase, educate, understand and spread awareness on the latest trends in information safety, cyber-security, and i-tech crimes. It also aims at providing a common platform for security forces, government, industrial leaders, startups, students, and professionals to get hands-on.