Barracuda just released its latest Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report, and the numbers push back on a lot of the old assumptions. It says 56% of organizations have cut cybersecurity staff because automated tools now handle more of the day-to-day defense work. Even with that, employers still report major gaps in model-driven risk, identity protection, and phishing.
Those cuts are split evenly between entry-level workers and experienced professionals, which makes it easier to see why the old talent-shortage story doesn’t really hold up anymore. Barracuda also cites separate data showing that cybersecurity job postings fell 26.4% from January through September 2026, dropping to a four-year low. Hiring hasn’t disappeared, though. It’s shifted toward specialists such as security engineers for machine-learning environments, model red-team engineers, cyber data scientists, and governance and security risk leads.
If you hire in security, or work in it yourself, this report is worth reading. Software is taking over the basic work: analysis, event correlation, and response recommendations. People are still needed for the harder parts, including complex attack investigations, checking automated outputs, making final incident decisions, and building the future pipeline. That pipeline will need stronger upskilling, clearer governance, and staff who can explain risk to executives when the software gets it wrong. Barracuda says 69% of organizations already use hybrid incident response, combining automation with human investigation and decision-making.
You can read the report from Barracuda.
Author: Manuel Bosque
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"es-ES": "Manuel Bosque se ocupa de la cobertura de software en Softonic: programas de escritorio, herramientas de productividad y utilidades pequeñas que resuelven bien un solo problema. Su criterio es práctico —qué hace realmente un programa, qué pide a cambio y a quién le sirve—, y por eso desconfía de las listas de funciones y prefiere probar. Forma parte del equipo que decide cómo se cuenta el software en la web y trabaja a diario con herramientas de IA aplicadas a la producción editorial.",
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"pt-BR": "Manuel Bosque cobre software na Softonic: programas para desktop, ferramentas de produtividade e pequenos utilitários que resolvem bem um problema só. Seu critério é prático — o que um programa realmente faz, o que pede em troca e para quem serve — e por isso desconfia de listas de recursos e prefere testar. Faz parte da equipe que define como o software é abordado no site e trabalha diariamente com ferramentas de IA aplicadas à produção editorial."
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