Identifying cyber security competencies and skills from online job advertisements through topic modeling

Abstract

This study aims to reveal the competence areas and skill sets needed in the business world in the field of cyber security (CS). For this purpose, descriptive analysis, topic modeling analysis, and semantic content analysis were conducted on 9407 CS job advertisements obtained from Indeed.com. The results of the study revealed a total of 10 job titles and 23 skill sets expected by the business world in CS job postings. The first three titles in terms of volume were “Engineer”, “Analyst” and “Specialist”, while the first three skill sets were determined as “Business/Customer services”, “System engineering”, and “Bachelor degree”. In addition, maps showing the relationships between titles and skills were created with a title-skill set matrix. The results of our study can be expected to contribute to candidates and professionals in the field of cyber security, IT organizations, and educational institutions in the cyber security business world by seeing, evaluating, developing, and expanding the current knowledge, skills, and competencies needed in the field.