Gamers Suitable Candidates for Cybersecurity Roles: McAfee

A report prepared by McAfee suggests that gamers may be the strong candidates for cybersecurity jobs.

McAfee is an American global computer security software company.

The security firm said it did a survey of 300 senior security managers and 650 security professionals at major corporations. The survey reveals: 78 percent of respondents said that the current generation entering the workforce – those that grew up playing video games – are stronger candidates for cybersecurity roles.

Gamers – those engaged and immersed in online competitions, may be the logical next step to plugging the skills gap, the report said.

Gaming affords players experience and skills critical to cybersecurity threat hunting: logic, perseverance, an understanding of how to approach adversaries and a fresh outlook, as per the respondents (92 percent) who took part in the survey.

A reasonable number of respondents (senior managers, 72 percent) said that they would consider hiring a gamer even if that person had no specific cybersecurity training or experience. Compared to a traditional cybersecurity candidate, hiring an experienced video gamer seems like a good way to plug the cybersecurity skills gap, they said.

“With cybersecurity breaches being the norm for organizations, we have to create a workplace that empowers cybersecurity responders to do their best work,” said Grant Bourzikas, chief information security officer at McAfee, in a statement published on Venture Beat.