Hartford Business Journal

10 Hartford Business Journal • April 30, 2018 • www.HartfordBusiness.com FOCUS: Technology Demand for cybersecurity talent soars in CT Q&A talks with Tim Herbert, vice president of research and market intelligence at CompTIA, a national IT association. Q. More than 2,400 cybersecurity jobs have been posted in the past year in Connecticut, according to Cyberseek, a free online workforce resource devel- oped by CompTIA and Burning Glass Technologies. What's driving that demand for cybersecurity workers? A. There are a number of factors driving demand for cybersecurity workers. Technology continues to be used more pervasively across busi- nesses of all sizes and across every industry sector. With the burgeoning internet-of-things trend, along with the ongoing growth of devices and cloud-based software that revolve around data, there are more points of connectivity, which means more potential points of vulnerability. With an ever-expanding threat land- scape — from phishing and ransom- ware to botnets and advanced persis- tent threats — security has moved from an IT-only issue to a C-suite and boardroom issue. Connecticut employers across a diverse range of industries seek to bolster their cyber defenses through the hiring of addi- tional cybersecurity professionals. Q. Is there a shortage of cybersecurity workers? A. There are many nuances to the cybersecurity workforce supply-de- mand discussion, but generally, for most areas and especially for specialized cy- bersecurity skills, employer demand tends to exceed the supply of available cybersecurity professionals. It should be noted, small- and medi- um-sized businesses, and even some large corporations, rely on IT profes- sionals with broad responsibilities. For example, a network engineer will obviously have network architecture and administration duties, buy may also spend one-third of his/her time on cybersecurity. This is the nature of just about every IT professional today — some level of knowledge and exper- tise in cybersecurity is required. Q. What types of cybersecurity jobs are in demand right now? A. Data from CyberSeek indicates employers in Connecticut are most likely to be hiring for cybersecurity engineers and cybersecurity analysts. One of the trends that has been building over the past couple of years is the growth of specialized cyberse- curity skills that elevate a security professional's skill set beyond the generalist. This is in response to the growing sophistication of security threats, requiring a defensive posture that goes beyond the basics of fire- walls and anti-virus software. Emerging skill areas may include analytics for threat modeling and identifying anomalies on the network, penetration testing and vulnerability assessment skills to proactively iden- tify points of risk and remedy before discovered by hackers, and informa- tion assurance to protect data wher- ever it may reside. Tim Herbert Vice President of Research and Market Intelligence, CompTIA By Andy Thibault Special to the Hartford Business Journal Y our office building is being renovated. The colors and lighting seem a bit off. What to do? Put on a helmet at your architect's office and take a virtual walk through the entire structure. Try out different colors and windows and see how they look morning, noon and night. Virtual reality is the new inspection and review process for many building projects including corporate offices, medical facilities and senior housing. "Very few people buy a car without test driving it first," said Eric Bell, senior associate for MBH Architecture of West Hartford. "This is the closest we can get to test driving a building or space. "Before, our clients may have known what they wanted the color of the wall to be," Bell said. "With VR, they will not only know the color of that wall, but how it looks next to the butt glass wall on top of the stone floor with a white ceiling and large pendant light. This is a far cry from massing models of days past. Understanding the entire built environment becomes a very satisfy- ing and collaborative effort." Too busy to come back to the archi- tect's office? No problem, there's an app for that. Clients and design pro- fessionals can view changes together through their smartphones. More businesses are deploying VR technology for a variety of purposes. Mu- nicipalities, transportation companies, and energy and telecommunications providers are all prospective VR users. Urban planners and architects can build out near-real-life models and analyze what happens to traffic flows when a new building or neighborhood is constructed. When virtually touring a building, the uninitiated can be wary of falling off that catwalk or bouncing off a wall. With guidance, however, it's simple: Just point and click and walk up and down stairs and through and around the building, virtually. Nick Michnevitz III, principal of MBH Architecture, says "the client immediately 'gets it' once they see the model or are physically inserted into the virtual environment. "This saves an incredible amount of time, uncertainty and perhaps misunderstanding of what is being presented in the design," Michnevitz said. "This allows fewer changes in construction as well as the potential for a client in the end to say 'Oh, I 3-D Design Virtual reality is reshaping architectural, urban planning Eric Bell, Senior Associate, MBH Architecture PHOTOS | CONTRIBUTED Staffers at MBH Architecture of West Hartford look on as someone takes a virtual reality tour of an office building that is currently in design.

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