The Protection Gap
Published: May 18, 2010
This slide estimates that by the year 2020 nearly 25 zettabytes (ZBs) of information will need protection, but less than half of it will be protected.
One may argue about whether or not these numbers are accurate but there is no doubt that in 2009 the amount of information continued to grow aggressively, and in 2010 information security violations continue to happen.
This brings to mind the following diagram which graphically depicts “information” as it flows from an application down to a persistent storage device.
When it comes to careers in high-tech, information security is already a hot field, and if you believe the projections, it will only become hotter. What information security levels are typically associated with bit streams (as depicted above)?
At a very high level, the IDC assigns five levels of security: lockdown, confidential, custodial, compliance, and privacy. If you are interested, you can find these five terms defined on page 6 of the full IDC report.
If you are beyond interested, and are looking for ways to capitalize on the growing need for security expertise in high-tech, I would recommend signing up for a course in information security certification.
Information security, along with governance, risk, and compliance (GRC), should be strongly considered by job seekers. In future posts I will discuss the differing types of career opportunities that these fields can provide.
Steve
http://stevetodd.typepad.com
Twitter: @SteveTodd
EMC Intrapreneur