What skills do cybersecurity professionals need?

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Information and Computer Security

Publication Date

2-14-2026

Abstract

Purpose – The increasing number of cyber-attacks has elevated the importance of cybersecurity for organizations. This has also increased the demand for professionals with the necessary skills to protect these organizations. As a result, many individuals are looking to enter the field of cybersecurity. However, there is a lack of clear understanding of the skills required for a successful career in this field. This paper aims to identify the skills required for cybersecurity professionals. The authors also determine how the demand for cyber skills relates to various cyber roles such as security analyst and security architect. Furthermore, they identify the programming languages that are important for cybersecurity professionals. Design/methodology/approach – For this study, the authors have collected and analyzed data from 12, 161 job ads and 49, 002 Stack Overflow posts. By examining this, the authors identified patterns and trends related to skill requirements, role-specific demands and programming languages in cybersecurity. Findings – The results reveal that communication skills and project management skills are the most important soft skills; as compared to soft skills, the demand for technical skills varies more across various cyber roles; and Java is the most commonly used programming language. Originality/value – The findings serve as a guideline for individuals aiming to get into the field of cybersecurity. Moreover, the findings are useful in terms of informing educational institutes to teach the correct set of skills to students doing degrees in cybersecurity.

ISSN

2056-4961

Publisher

Emerald

First Page

1

Last Page

19

Disciplines

Computer Sciences

Keywords

Cybersecurity, Data analysis, Incident response, Risk management, Security workforce, SoC, Stack Overflow, Threat detection

Scopus ID

105032116607

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

no

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