When it comes to picking the top skills needed to fill the massive number of open positions in the information security industry, Wils Bell, security recruiter at SecurityHeadhunter.com, says: 

"All cybersecurity appears hot, and no one area is hotter than others. But if I had to pick one, application security (AppSec) is up there."

According to Bell, organizations face two key challenges when hiring for all cybersecurity positions:

1. Organizations are not willing to pay the going rate for experienced talent.
2. Many candidates are not nearly as good as they think; they have successfully entered the field of cybersecurity, but are not strong in terms of skills.

Here's a list of five hot skills in cybersecurity as curated from a collection of talent and security service firms. In addition to the hands-on skills, Bell reminds employers that leadership also is a critical skill.

(Note: Job search results referenced on slides were collected from Indeed.com on Oct. 26.)