HUNT ON FOR CYBER SKILLS

These IT workers are being procured from diverse backgrounds, finds Melanie Burgess

CYBER security threat hunters are in strong demand and being hired from a surprising range of backgrounds.

Skill shortages for the niche role have forced employers to cast their nets wider than the information technology community, sourcing workers trained in areas from creative arts to medicine and physics.

Microsoft director of security Ryan McGee describes threat hunters as cyber security professionals focused on pre-empting cyber attacks rather than responding to incidents.

He says automation and machine learning has freed up workers that previously conducted routine data analysis to investigate suspicious activity before it becomes an attack.

“Even if an incident hasn’t occurred, there’s just something suspicious going on, they now have the time to investigate,” he says.

McGee gives the example of a USbased user who does not typically work weekends logging into multiple devices on a Sunday in Istanbul.

“Now that they’ve freed up some of their time with this automation capability, (hunters) can poke at that a little bit,” he says.

If the user’s identity does not check out, the hunter can look into past activity on the device. Ultimately, they may present evidence to law enforcement and bring the attacker to justice. “It’s a pretty hot space,” McGee says. “There’s a global talent shortage … and (employers) are starting to get very creative about it.”

The traditional path is to study computer science at university then specialise in cyber security and climb ranks from help desk jobs and resetting passwords to learning more about investigations. Now, employers are looking for hunters everywhere.

“The basic job description is you need to be intensely curious, really creative about ways of breaking things, and … super paranoid about everything you see,” McGee says.

“They’re looking for people straight out of university, people that have skipped university and gone into other careers, people in the creative arts space. It’s not too late.”