7 Ways to Fill Cyber Workforce Gaps in a Generation

peshkova/Shuttersock.com

Veterans, vocational schools and loan forgiveness could all be key to building tomorrow’s cybersecurity workforce.

Here’s the downside to all the job-easing and time-saving technologies proliferating across government, industry and commerce: There aren’t nearly enough skilled workers to make sure that technology is secure.

The U.S. is facing a shortfall of nearly 300,000 cybersecurity workers, according to government funded research.

The global cybersecurity workforce shortage is projected to reach 1.8 million by 2022, according to the cyber certification group (ISC)².

» Get the best federal technology news and ideas delivered right to your inbox. Sign up here.

The result is that government and industry are often much less secure than they should be. The situation is especially dire in government because outsized salaries for cyber pros in the private sector lure away many of the government’s most talented cyber defenders.

Closing that gap will require a generational effort, representatives from industry, academia and certification organizations told the government’s cyber standards agency in response to a recent call for comments.  

Top priorities include surging tech and cybersecurity training in K-12 curriculum, seeding universities with cyber-focused scholarships and better defining cyber workforce categories so students and prospective employees know where to focus their learning and on the job training, according to the comments delivered to the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology last week.

NIST took a step forward on the final priority Monday with the publication of an updated version of its cybersecurity workforce framework.

Commenters also urged the government to invest in programs that raise the number of women and minority cybersecurity professionals.

The call for comments is part of a governmentwide effort to study the cyber workforce gap mandated by a May executive order from President Donald Trump. The study’s goal is to “ensure that the United States maintains a long-term cybersecurity advantage.”

Here are seven big ideas from commenters:

1. Think creatively about credentials.

Government and industry jobs often require a litany of certifications and academic degrees that aren’t necessarily good gauges of an applicant’s abilities.

“‘Certifications’ or college degrees in the technical field are often cited as proof of competency, however, that is often not the case,” the federal contractor Accenture noted.

The Defense Department, for instance, is updating its baseline for information assurance certification and training to de-emphasize education and certifications in favor of work experience and demonstrated aptitude, the contractor noted.

2. Focus on community and vocational colleges.

Not every cybersecurity challenge will require someone with a four-year degree to respond to it. Numerous commenters urged the government and academic groups to invest in new cybersecurity curriculum and training programs for community and vocational colleges.

Government and academia should also invest in programs that help people in other careers transition to the cybersecurity field mid-career, several commenters said.

3. Forgive loans.

Government could also incentivize students to pursue cybersecurity careers by partnering with industry on student loan forgiveness programs, the company Cyber World Institute suggested.

The company suggests a plan for full loan forgiveness in exchange for working in the cybersecurity field for five or six years.

4. Leverage veterans.

Veterans often have highly useful technology and cybersecurity skills that could be a boon to government and industry, but they may need some retraining to take those skills from a military context to a civilian one, commenters noted. The Veterans Affairs Department could ramp up its cyber skills training programs and expand GI Bill benefits for cybersecurity education and training, the industry group BSA: The Software Alliance suggested.

The Pentagon could also expand the Air Force’s VetSuccess program, which offers cybersecurity training to troops transitioning into civilian careers, across the services, BSA said.

5. Government and industry should work together.

Government and industry could improve cyber workforce skills by making it easier for industry pros to take short-term tours in government and vice versa, the professional association ISACA urged.

DOD’s information technology office has experimented with such short-term assignments, but they remain rare in government because of the rigorous security clearance process required for government work.

6. Get the government’s house in order.

On the wonkier side, the cyber education group U.S. Cyber Challenge urged government to consolidate its cyber workforce efforts that are now operated out of the Homeland Security Department’s cyber operations wing into NIST.

“This will align the statutory authority with the organizational responsibilities,” the group headed by former White House tech lead Karen Evans noted.

7. Measurement and flexibility

Finally, any effort to bolster the cyber workforce may be stymied if NIST isn’t adequately measuring how well that effort is achieving its goals and isn’t prepared to pivot as the cyber landscape changes, Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., co-founder of the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus wrote.

Advances in artificial intelligence, for example, may make some cybersecurity career tracks superfluous while the expansion of internet-connected devices may spawn new cyber career categories that aren’t even envisioned today, Langevin said.

“This is perhaps one of the most significant challenges that we will face in shaping tomorrow’s workforce,” Langevin wrote, “and it will require novel approaches to training.”

NEXT STORY: Navy CIO moving on

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.