EDITOR’S QUESTION
HOW SHOULD
CIOS TACKLE THE
CHALLENGE OF
RECRUITING KEY
IT STAFF?
H
elp AG has introduced ‘a
Capture the Flag’ ethical hacking
challenge as a talent recruitment
platform. The security specialist’s
decision to utilise the skills-based
recruitment tool has been prompted
by the growing need for cyber security
professionals in the Middle East.
Recognising the need to identify and
hire skilled cyber-security experts in
the Middle East, Help AG launched the
recruitment initiative.
The ‘Capture the Flag’ style challenge
tests applicants’ ability to identify and
solve realistic security vulnerabilities
and then rewards real-world technical
know-how rather than assessing
educational qualifications. The
security company is also extending
this evaluation tool as a service to its
customers upon request to help them
identify technically competent staff for
their in-house IT positions.
Mukhammad Khalilov, Manager Security
Analysis at Help AG, said: “There is
a rich pool of local cyber security
talent and we believe that this sort of
competition will help us recruit the very
best technical resources as we grow
our business. Over a decade of closely
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monitoring the IT security landscape
in the Middle East has given us a keen
insight into the main types of attacks
and security vulnerabilities that plague
regional enterprises.
“This has enabled us to design
the scenarios in a way that best
imitates these cyber-attacks. I
believe participants will find this both
challenging and rewarding as it will truly
put their IT skills to the test.”
While cyber security is one of the fast-
growing industries, pegged to become
a $101 billion market by 2020, it is
plagued by an acute skills shortage.
A report from Frost & Sullivan
and (ISC)2 found that the global
cybersecurity workforce will have more
than 1.5 million unfilled positions by
2020. A major factor in this has been
the evolution of cyber threats and the
inability of traditional academic means
to foster the skill sets now needed to
combat sophisticated attacks.
Help AG’s new recruitment platform
invites participants to uncover
vulnerabilities in various applications.
These have been specifically designed
by the company to mimic those that are
most commonly found and exploited
by hackers in the region. Among the
types of attacks simulated are SQL
Injection, cross-site scripting, and
software exploitation and the platform
also tests applicants’ ability to conduct
vulnerability checks, source code audits
and analysis of network packets. While
participants won’t be subjected to
a time limit, their performance will
be graded based on the number of
vulnerabilities they discover.
Even large scale organisations that
have invested heavily in security are
not immune from cyber-attack if they
cannot recruit the relevant experts to
manage their IT infrastructures. So
the identification and recruitment of
qualified technical staff is a key concern
for Middle East businesses.
Some of the world’s most exciting IT
job vacancies are available in Dubai and
other locations in the Middle East. Staff
with a talent for technology are being
recruited not only in Dubai but also Abu
Dhabi, Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia
on a daily basis.
There is no doubt that attractive
opportunities exist but is the relevant
talent pool out there to recruit?
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