IBM India says cyber security a gold mine for jobs

Global technology major IBM has said there is a massive shortage of cyber security professionals in the country, urging young graduates to look this segment, which is a high-margin segment for companies, as a lucrative career option.

The company, which looks at India both as a market as well as a talent pool to serve the global markets on cyber security, said a whopping 3 million cyber security professionals are required in the country but the supply is not even 1 lakh now, Kartik Shahahni, integrated security leader for IBM India and South Asia, told PTI here.

"Can I find people, yes I can. But can I find enough number of people? There is obviously an opportunity for more number of people than we actually have now," Ananda K Vaideeswaran, director and global integrated leader, chipped in saying.

Shahahni explained that security solutions currently contributes in "double-digit percentages" to IBM India's revenue at present, whereas its share of the total staff is much smaller.

Stating that the cyber security professionals are "more productive" as it is a margin accretive vertical, he said, "the amount of revenue a security professional can bring to us is far higher than the amount of revenue a non-security professional can."