The Short-Term Impact of #COVID19 on the Cybersecurity Industry

As we work remotely and isolate ourselves from friends and colleagues as best we can, the impacts of COVID-19 will continue to hit the technology sector in terms of output and innovation.

According to analysis released this week from recruitment firm Robert Walters, the UK’s tech industry remains the fastest growing sector in the UK and will maintain resilient as permanent job vacancies in the sector increased by 32.56%, and contract tech roles increased by 48.27% in comparison to the same period last year.

Ahsan Iqbal, director of technology at Robert Walters, said that as digital infrastructure becomes the focal point for many internal business discussions, he does not anticipate a cancellation or slowdown in tech projects. “In fact, there will be a revised focus on firms’ digital offering, with particular attention on improving e-comms channels through better CRM systems, upgraded website capabilities, improved security and enhanced accessibility and use of data.

Is there a negative outlook for businesses in the cybersecurity industry, despite the optimism of market predictions? Steve Durbin, managing director of the Information Security Forum disagreed, saying that in the short-term, he doubted this would be the case. “If anything, we are seeing a light being shone on the already much talked about skills shortage: it is more likely that businesses will be exposed because they neither have in-house, nor external, access to the necessary skills to deliver their business operations with a remote workforce.”

Durbin said he did not see a short-term altering of budgets, but clearly this will come for many organizations as the crisis continues. “It would be an extremely short-sighted business leader who reduced cybersecurity staff at a time when the majority of the workforce is critically dependent on cyber to function.”