As the new year begins gaining steam, there is ostensibly a piece of good news on the cyber front. Major cyberattacks have been in a lull in recent months, and still are, says Tech Crunch. The good tidings are fleeting, however. Attacks typically come in waves. The next one is due, and 2019 will be the worst year yet — a sad reality as companies increasingly pursue digitization to drive efficiency and simultaneously move into the “target zone” of cyberattacks. This bad news is compounded by the harsh reality that there are not nearly enough cybersecurity pros to properly respond to all the threats. The technology industry has never seen anything quite like it. Seasoned cyber pros typically earn $95,000 a year, often markedly more, and yet job openings can linger almost indefinitely. The ever-leaner cybersecurity workforce makes many companies desperate for help. Cybersecurity has long been a field that has embraced people with nontraditional backgrounds. Almost no cybersecurity pro over 30 today has a degree in cybersecurity and many don’t even have degrees in computer science. Professionals need some training to become familiar with select tools and technologies – usually at a community college or bootcamp — but even more they need curiosity, knowledge of the current threat landscape and a strong passion for learning and research. Particularly strong candidates have backgrounds as programmers, systems administrators and network engineers. Asking too much from prospective pros isn’t the only reason behind the severe cyber manpower shortage. In general, corporations do too little to help their cyber staffs stay technically current and even less when it comes to helping their IT staffs pitch in.