The Most Secure Job in IT, Part 2

A one-time Interior Department CIO who now heads a not-for-profit group promoting information security education sees the jobs of information security professionals being stable in this turbulent economy.

Quoted in a posting on BankInfoSecurity.com, (ISC)² executive director Hord Tipton (left) says:

“Even if downsizing in companies is severe, the IT security folks are generally the last to go because their job functions are critical to continuing the business regardless of how many employees are left. There's so much information that people have to still protect—it's digital, it's in databases and transmitted over wires—networking and security people are going to be required.”

Tipton cites research he says shows that IT security managers and architects rate near the top in terms of the most protected jobs.

“There may actually be an increased demand for them in many cases because the insider threat is greater than ever. The information security staff must monitor the IT department as well as end-users. People are looking for something to make them more marketable when they must leave their current employer, and thus are tempted to leave with your data.”

Other relatively secure IT jobs during this recession are those involving audit and IT governance. In another interview conducted by BankInfoSecurity.com, this one with Deloitte & Touche partner Gary Baker (right), the firm's enterprise risk expert sees a continued need for information security and risk management skills. Baker said:

“With the economic situation that faces us, it is quite likely that those IT security and risk management that can effectively make the connection between security, risk management and regulatory compliance on the one hand, and adding value to the bottom line of the organization on the other, will be the most successful. Management will want to focus on improving bottom line performance—in addition to meeting their compliance requirements.”

An earlier post, The Most Secure Job in IT, referred to a story in The New York Times that contends Internet security is broken, and quotes Phillip Porras, a program director and computer security expert at SRI International, as saying: “To me it feels like job security.”