Infosec pros rave about the power of higher education

According to a recent survey conducted by Kaspersky, half of infosec professionals believe that the cybersecurity knowledge they gained from higher education is only somewhat useful or less for their day-to-day work. The survey, which included 1,012 professionals across 29 countries, found that 25% of respondents found their higher education “not at all useful” for their cybersecurity careers, while 29% said it was “extremely” useful. The study also found that only 19% of professionals with two to five years of experience felt their formal education was very or extremely useful for their work. The lack of teaching personnel with real-world experience in cybersecurity may be contributing to this disconnect between higher education and industry needs, according to Kaspersky. The survey also revealed that a significant number of respondents disagreed that their educators had real-world experience in the field. The availability of infosec courses in higher education institutions was rated as poor or very poor by 50% of respondents. The survey results highlight the need for better alignment between education and industry needs in the cybersecurity field.