{"id":12464,"date":"2023-01-24T06:59:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-24T12:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/?p=12464"},"modified":"2023-01-23T12:19:00","modified_gmt":"2023-01-23T18:19:00","slug":"why-cybersecurity-leaders-are-actively-recruiting-neurodiverse-talent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/why-cybersecurity-leaders-are-actively-recruiting-neurodiverse-talent\/","title":{"rendered":"Why cybersecurity leaders are actively recruiting neurodiverse talent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u00a0Worklife News<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 | BY OLIVER PICKUP | JANUARY 10, 2023 | Cybersecurity | Cyber Liability Insurance<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an attempt to clamp down harder on the increased risk<\/a> of cybersecurity threats to businesses, tech leaders are actively hiring neurodivergent people because of the strong problem-solving and analytical skills they can offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The neurodiversity spectrum is wide, ranging from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, dyspraxia, and Tourette syndrome, to autism and bipolarity. But common characteristics of neurodivergent individuals \u2013 including pattern-spotting, creative insights, and visual-spatial thinking \u2013 are finally being realized, not least in the cyber security sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holly Foxcroft, head of neurodiversity in cyber research and consulting at professional search firm London-centered Stott and May Consulting, said that neurodivergent individuals have \u201cspiky profiles.\u201d Foxcroft, who is neurodivergent herself, explained that these visual representations highlight the strengths and areas needed for development or support. \u201cNeurodivergent profiles show that individuals perform highly in areas where neurotypicals have a consistent and moderate line,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The areas in which neurodivergent individuals have \u201cexceeded skill\u201d include high-level problem-solving, creative \u201cout-the-box\u201d thinking, hyper-focusing, and pattern spotting. \u201cThese are much-needed attributes and skills in cybersecurity,\u201d added Foxcroft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unique skills for unknown unknowns<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Perry Carpenter, chief evangelist and strategy officer at KnowBe4, a global cybersecurity awareness platform, said: \u201cAs someone on the autism spectrum, I\u2019m very encouraged by the efforts of the security community to recruit neurodivergent employees actively.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resident of Little Rock, Arkansas, is proud his work community is leading the way. He said these recruitment efforts mark an essential step in helping to overcome some of the \u201dinherent stigmas\u201d associated with neurodivergence. However, Carpenter also warned against yet more generalizing \u201cJust because someone is neurodiverse doesn\u2019t mean that they will naturally be great coders or analysts. We don\u2019t want to create new stereotypes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cOur adversaries [cybercriminals] are not universally neurotypical, so it makes sense for us to have a defensive force that is also diverse and representative of their thinking patterns and skillsets.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\nPerry Carpenter, chief evangelist and strategy officer at KnowBe4.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

KnowBe4\u2019s Carpenter listed the main reasons cybersecurity leaders are \u201cactively recruiting\u201d neurodivergent staff. First, the community understands more than most that \u201cunique individuals\u201d can offer \u201cunique skills\u201d suited to cybersecurity. Different ways of thinking are critical in the fight against cybercriminals, who also know the benefits of employing innovators. \u201cOur adversaries are not universally neurotypical, so it makes sense for us to have a defensive force that is also diverse and representative of their thinking patterns and skillsets,\u201d said Carpenter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether \u201chyper-focused\u201d or offering out-of-the-box thinking, neurodivergent workers enable \u201cteams to continually grind data, identify patterns, or find solutions to complex problems that someone else might miss,\u201d according to Carpenter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Baird, the chief technical security officer in the U.K. for cybersecurity firm Qualys, built on this theme. \u201cIf you have a neurodiverse team, they will react differently when a problem arises,\u201d he said. \u201cThe alternative is that you have a cookie-cutter approach to security where every problem gets handled the same way each time.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latter strategy struggles with unknown unknowns or unexpected events. \u201cAt that point, you need people with multiple views and backgrounds to solve these problems effectively,\u201d Baird added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Narrowing the cybersecurity skills gap<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Read the full story here…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To clamp down harder on cybersecurity threats to businesses, tech leaders are hiring neurodivergent people because of the strong problem-solving skills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12465,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1,2],"tags":[15,31,2097,62],"class_list":["post-12464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-blog","category-insurance","category-shield-blog","tag-business","tag-commercial-insurance","tag-cybersecurity","tag-shield-insurance-agency"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12464"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12466,"href":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12464\/revisions\/12466"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}