Cyber Security Skills and Careers 2026

Two ends of a career, one habit

The clearest career signal of the year sits in the gap between two honourees. Jubilian Ho Hong Yi was recognised as the Rising Star in Cyber Security, early in his trajectory and already mentoring others. Jim Earl West III was recognised as Advocate of the Year for training and mentoring newcomers through TopCyberPro, work he has built over years. Place them next to each other and the habit they share is obvious. Both teach. One has been doing it for a long time and one has barely started, and both treat passing knowledge on as part of the work rather than a thing you earn the right to do later.

How people actually get in

The skills gap is usually described as a shortage of supply, and the cohort suggests where the supply comes from. It comes from named practitioners who decide to teach. Jim West first appeared in the programme in 2021, when he was recognised as Cyber Personality of the Year, and by 2026 his recognised work is the mentoring itself. That arc matters for anyone planning a career. The route in is rarely a single qualification. It is more often a person who opens a door, runs a session, reviews a piece of work, and stays in touch.

Early career is not a waiting room

The Rising Star category exists because the field needs to see its newcomers, and Jubilian Ho Hong Yi’s recognition makes a quiet point about pace. Early-career practitioners are not waiting for permission to contribute. They are contributing, and in his case mentoring others while still establishing themselves. For employers worried about retention, that is a useful tell. The people who teach early tend to be the people who stay, because teaching is how they make the work their own.

The gap is a long emergency

External bodies have described the skills shortage in the same terms for years. The UK’s NCSC and sector skills surveys, alongside ENISA across Europe, consistently report that organisations struggle to recruit and retain people with the right cyber security skills, and that the shortfall is structural rather than a passing dip. The cohort’s answer is not a programme or a product. It is individuals choosing to mentor, and a panel choosing to recognise them for it. Set against a decade of editions, that pattern holds: the careers the programme honours are made by people who teach, and the work that closes the gap is the same quiet work that defends the field every other day.