White-hat hackers in high demand for Internet security skills

Shortage of talent

The Tencent report said that the security industry's fast development means finding and training more young security employees is a big challenge.

By 2014, 103 of the more than 2,500 universities across the country had offered majors relating to information security. But fewer than 10,000 students graduate every year, so the shortage of related talent could reach 1 million, it said.

Guan said most young security employees taught themselves and it remains necessary to provide them additional training.

"We don't exclude talent who have a deep and powerful understanding of the field, but the industry still needs a complete knowledge base that can help employees look at problems thoroughly," he said.

Meanwhile, there is also a big demand for security talent with more knowledge in certain or specific fields, such as mobile network security, Guo said.

"My company focuses on the security of smartphone applications and can give higher pay for people who are competent, but now the recruitment disappoints me," he said. "Few security graduates know the section, let alone how to ensure the security of purchase, privacy and data transmission on the applications."

caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn