Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
Fall 11-11-2024
Abstract
Cybersecurity professionals require and will benefit from having strong and competent technical and soft skills, knowledge, and abilities. Cyber-attacks continue to plague our organizations and businesses, and finding the individuals with the skills needed for industry teams to contend with these broad and varying types of breaches is essential. This research article will outline the results of a comparative quantitative study that compares the importance of soft skills or nontechnical competencies by information security and cybersecurity professionals in the finance and manufacturing critical infrastructure sectors. This research study used a validated survey instrument from a previous seminal study to capture results from cybersecurity and information security professionals from the United States focused on management, business, and interpersonal soft skills. The survey population from the finance and manufacturing critical sectors used resulted in (N = 185) usable records from which analysis using the Mann-Whitney U test calculations occurred. This study provided evidence that the soft skills within the business functional construct were perceived as more critical to the finance sector than to the manufacturing sector. Understanding what soft skills and abilities are considered essential and what differences exist between the critical sectors of the United States economy can be valuable to both industry professionals and the academic community, from which many cybersecurity graduates will exit and join work roles in the field. Many studies include content related to the technical skill needs of cybersecurity professionals, but this study emphasizes nontechnical and soft skills. The results of this study will contribute to those academic institutions planning to create, modify, or enhance their cybersecurity and information security programs and offerings.
Publication Title
2024 Proceedings of the ISCAP Conference
First Page Number
1
Last Page Number
10
Recommended Citation
Mierzwa, Stanley and Lind, Mary, "Importance of Soft Skills Comparative Study with Cybersecurity Professionals in the Manufacturing and Finance Critical Sectors" (2024). Center for Cybersecurity. 51.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.kean.edu/cybersecurity/51
Included in
Computer and Systems Architecture Commons, Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons, Other Computer Engineering Commons, Strategic Management Policy Commons, Technology and Innovation Commons