Asia's education institutions are not doing enough to offer cybersecurity as a core teaching subject to students, choosing instead to focus on basic IT skills such as software programming and database management. This is contributing to the lower pay that security professionals in the region are earning compared to their counterparts around the world, according to industry watchers. Beyond bridging the salary gap, Scott Robertson, Asia-Pacific vice president of WatchGuard Technologies was of the opinion that schools should look to integrate security courses as part of their core curriculum given that online security has become one of the top concerns and challenges for businesses today. And more institutions are starting to do so, he added.

SMU School of Information Systems is one school that has made its Information Security and Trust module a core course in its Bachelor of Science in Information Systems Management since 2004. It has also expanded its range of information security-related elective offerings for the academic year starting August 2013, said Dean of the SMU School of Information Systems and Vice Provost (Research) Professor Steven Miller. In addition, the school has a student special interest group in information security called "SMU White Hats" which organises cybersecurity-related activities such as seminars and competitions for SMU’s undergraduate student community, Dean Miller said.