Many people reconsidered their priorities during the pandemic. The Great Resignation of 2021 was caused by workers reflecting on their careers, leaving unfulfilling jobs, and seeking better opportunities.
The Great Resignation 2021 statistics are staggering: 4.5 million people resigned in November 2021, representing non agricultural workforce.
With the rapid digitalisation in the business world, the Great Resignation also has significant implications on cybersecurity. Here are the ways it has impacted data and cloud app security, and the surprising benefits it may bring to the cybersecurity industry.
What the Great Resignation Means For Data Security
The implications on cybersecurity may not be immediately apparent, but they can lead to damaging consequences:
Identity and Access Management
Offboarding many employees all at once can put a strain on IT teams. They have to end each person’s access to various networks, platforms, and systems that contain business-critical data such as intellectual properties, financial information, customers’ personal data and more. An oversight could evolve into an insider threat or a data breach.
Endpoint Data Security
Remote working has caused more organizations to adopt a bring your own device (BYOD) policy, which complicated device management exponentially. It’s challenging to track down all the personal devices used by employees to access the corporate network, and make sure that all sensitive data is wiped from the hard drives.
Cloud App Security Risks
15% of employees uploaded files copied directly from company apps to personal cloud apps during the last 30 days of their employment, often in violation of corporate data policy. Such information may include personal and protected healthcare information, intellectual property or source code, which can cause lasting damages to a company if compromised.
Data Migration from Cloud Apps
Employees may host critical data in cloud apps using accounts set up under their credentials. When they resign, the employer must track who has what data and migrate the information to ensure business continuity. Switching all these accounts is not only cumbersome, it can also open up opportunities for data breaches and leaks.
How the Great Resignation May Benefit the Cybersecurity Industry
The Great Resignation statistics suggest that people aren’t leaving their jobs to go home and sit on the couch. Many of these employees are experienced workers between 30 and 45 seeking to do something different.
The cybersecurity industry offers job opportunities that many seek — flexibility, job security, better hours and meaningful work.
Meanwhile, the demand for cybersecurity professionals will continue to rise. Companies must deal with the aftermath of the Great Resignation to ensure that they didn’t leave any vulnerabilities unaddressed. They also need to contend with growing security threats, such as ransomware attacks and data breaches.
The cybersecurity industry requires 2.72 million workers worldwide, and as that number grows there comes an urgent need for new talent. Cyber leaders can take advantage of this, and engage with the increasing number of people looking for a new career path. In particular, a greater proportion of women than men have been leaving the workforce, and they continue to represent a significant untapped resource.
How MSPs/MSSPs Can Take Advantage of the Great Resignation
MSPs and MSSPs who can position themselves in the right place with the right resources will benefit from the rising cybersecurity demand for years to come.
Here’s how:
Recruit a Diverse Team
Many people shy away from pursuing a career in cybersecurity because they assume that they need a degree in computer science or engineering. However, that’s not true. “Soft” skills in collaboration, communication, empathy, critical thinking and problem-solving are just as important, if not more so, in today’s business environment.
Recruiting employees with different backgrounds and skillsets can help you introduce a broader perspective that brings long-term benefits to your company. With so many women and experienced workers seeking new career paths, MSPs and MSSPs should take the opportunity to recruit people who can contribute beyond traditional technical skills.
Educate Your Customers
The implications of the Great Resignation on cybersecurity often get overlooked as organisations scramble to fill more immediate gaps. The data security issues we discussed above could easily fall through the cracks as IT teams are stretched thin and other departments don’t understand the severity of the challenges.
MSPs and MSSPs can open up more revenue opportunities by educating their clients and prospects about the data security issues caused by poor offboarding. You can offer services to help offboard employees properly, track down all devices that contain sensitive information, and orchestrate data migration from cloud apps.
Beef Up Your Security Practice
After assembling your A-team and winning the business, you’ll need the right tools to handle the demand and enable your team to deliver the best service to your clients. But building and equipping an in-house SOC team takes time and financial resources, not to mention how keeping up with the latest threats has become increasingly challenging.
That’s why the more savvy MSPs and MSSPs are using our SOC-as-a-Service solution to help them establish a robust cybersecurity practice quickly, efficiently and affordably. It gives access to state-of-the-art security tools, and a team of cybersecurity experts who provide 24/7/365 monitoring of all your clients’ systems – all for an affordable monthly fee.
The Great Resignation: Revenue Opportunities for MSPs and MSSPs
MSPs and MSSPs who can recruit the right talents, offer the right services and have the right tools are poised to win a lot more business during this extraordinary time.
See how inSOC offers the latest cybersecurity tools designed for MSPs and MSSPs, to help you deliver the best services and increase your profits.
