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What skills do cybersecurity professionals need?

Faheem Ullah et al.

Information and Computer Security2026https://doi.org/10.1108/ics-01-2025-0027article
AJG 1ABDC B
Weight
0.37

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.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1108/ics-01-2025-0027

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@article{faheem2026,
  title        = {{What skills do cybersecurity professionals need?}},
  author       = {Faheem Ullah et al.},
  journal      = {Information and Computer Security},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1108/ics-01-2025-0027},
}

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Evidence weight

0.37

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.16 × 0.4 = 0.06
M · momentum0.53 × 0.15 = 0.08
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.