Kaspersky Lab Raises Alarm Over Critical Cybersecurity Skills Shortage, Says Youth can Bridge Gap - if Industry Lets it

LONDON, October 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Tech-savvy youth could plug a widening skills gap as employers seek to combat the growing threat of cybercrime and avert mass disruption to public and private lives. But the industry is failing to provide a clear path for young people to find work, hone their skills, and serve society. Instead, they are being tempted to exacerbate cybercrime, rather than prevent it. 

In a wide-ranging new survey of 12,000 consumers and IT professionals from across the US and Europe, Kaspersky Lab found under-25s, highly skilled and highly impressionable, are already inured to the shock of large-scale cyber hacks. Their concern only marginally outruns their curiosity, and even regard, for these types of crimes. In fact, 57% of under-25s consider hacking to be an 'impressive' skill and only 35% of all respondents feel uncomfortable about people who have the skills to hack. Many are already adept at blurring the lines, with a third of under 25s (31%) able to hide their IP address, for example.

And while one in four (27%) have considered a career in cybersecurity, with many (47%) regarding it as a good use of their talent, many others admit an inclination to engage in more questionable activity. Only half (50%) of under-25s would actually join the fight against cybercrime; a significant number would use their skills for fun (17%), secretive activities (16%), and financial gain (11%) instead.

Eugene Kaspersky, Chairman and CEO of Kaspersky Lab, says: "Industry and education must do more to recruit the younger generation of cyber professionals and the warning signs are clear. The frequency and profile of teenage cyberattacks is growing with each generation's competency, as well as with the ready availability of 'malware as a service'."

Whether masterminds of these exploits or foot soldiers in the pay of criminal gangs, teenager hackers have been linked with a myriad of high profile cybercrimes in recent years - including attacks on US entertainment firm Sony (1), US retailer Target (2), UK parenting site Mumsnet (3), and UK broadband provider TalkTalk (4). Even agencies tasked with stopping them have come under fire, with both the CIA and the Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA) targeted by teenage hackers in the UK in 2012 (5).