Ciaran Luttrell and George O’Mahony discuss Ireland’s cyber landscape and the impact of AI on the sector.
Late last week (26 February), managed detection and response platform eSentire awarded the fifth annual MTU Sean Hennessy Bursary to Bartosz Lipinski, from Fermoy, Cork. In partnership with MTU’s Department of Computer Science, the award was established as a means of honouring a former colleague and supporting young people in the security sector.
SiliconRepublic.com spoke with Ciaran Luttrell, the vice-president for global SOC operations at eSentire and George O’Mahony, the head of the Department of Computer Science at Munster Technological University (MTU), to hear more about the bursary, Ireland’s cybersecurity sector and the skills needed to succeed.
“The Bursary provides a huge opportunity for students to work in an international operations centre that supports thousands of customers, to refine their skills during their placement and then look at this as a career after they graduate,” explained Luttrell.
“This is the fifth year of the bursary, and it has been a great way to find and develop new talent. So far, all of the recipients of the previous years that have graduated have joined us full time and remain with the company and those that are still going through their studies continue to work with us on a part time basis.”
Next in line
According to O’Mahony, developing a pipeline of cybersecurity expertise is of key importance, not just for professionals based in Ireland, but worldwide.
He said, “There is still a cyber skills gap, not only in Ireland, but across the globe. This is a global issue that is faced by both small companies and multinational organisations. There’s just not enough people available.”
He stated, by building a graduate pipeline, for example like the programme at MTU, in collaboration with companies based in Cork and the wider south-west region, there is potential to develop a strong and connected ecosystem. But it can’t depend solely on the participation of graduates.
He said, “Graduates are not going to fill the entirety of the skills gap. MTU has run the Cyber Skills Initiative as a lead institution. This is a collaboration between MTU, University of Limerick and Technological University Dublin, which is an HEA HCI Pillar III project that was awarded back in 2021.
“The project has now been running for five years and has allowed us to expand access to cybersecurity programmes by looking at short courses and micro-credentials, which are all university accredited.
“This allowed more people to upskill or reskill and these types of alternatives, at the postgraduate level, are really important in solving this talent gap, especially when aligned to international standards, like the NIST/NICE framework.”
It’s an AI world now
Cybersecurity, like virtually every STEM role, has been impacted by AI advancements, with significant fears that artificial intelligence limits career opportunities for professionals young and older alike.
O’Mahony is of the opinion that this is an even greater issue in academia as the onset of GenAI has had a detrimental effect on graduates. But it is, he finds, an opportunity to commit to robust hard and soft upskilling, with the professional at the core.
He said, “AI will probably have an impact in automating some tasks within IT like vulnerability scanning, log analysis and others, that are important but also repeatable.
“What will remain as valuable to the student or graduate is around critical analysis, critical thinking, problem-solving, and being able to reason in areas of uncertainty, like not knowing exactly what the attacker can do. And hence companies will still need graduates to understand and apply this skillset, while being able to use AI and take advantage of new technologies. “
For both Luttrell and O’Mahony, AI-literacy simply can not be ignored, especially among those expecting a career in a field as critical as cybersecurity. O’Mahony noted collaboration among educational institutions and companies is going to be vital in bringing young people up to speed on the topics that most affect cyber careers, such as emerging risks, as well as shifting regulatory and operational requirements.
He said, “With AI, some of the technologies that are affecting the market did not exist even months ago, so how can you help students understand what is involved or how to secure those new environments? At this point, we have to help them understand first principles and take a ‘life-long learning’ approach, so that they are able to apply their knowledge and skills in the most effective way.”
For Luttrell, “getting a foot in the door is a huge achievement”, but what organisations truly need to prioritise for their employees and long-term growth strategies, is a commitment to a mutually beneficial career progression plan.
He explained, companies often worry about hiring early career professionals, as it may not seem like a strong investment. He said, employers bring people in, train them up and then if they choose to move on, it can impact the organisation.
“The old mindset here is that you are spending on training and recruitment, then someone else sees all the benefits. It’s very much a zero sum mindset and I think it is the wrong one to take.
“More skilled people benefits everyone. The world is more connected and so any company that you work with or partner with can potentially affect your security as well. We have seen attacks through service providers and software supply chains, and so the number of skilled professionals in the market helps to improve the overall state of security for everyone.”
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