{"id":18897,"date":"2017-10-26T15:30:34","date_gmt":"2017-10-26T15:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2017\/10\/26\/federal-leadership-is-needed-to-close-the-cyber-talent-gap-commentary\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:01:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:01:49","slug":"federal-leadership-is-needed-to-close-the-cyber-talent-gap-commentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/opinion\/2017\/10\/26\/federal-leadership-is-needed-to-close-the-cyber-talent-gap-commentary\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal leadership is needed to close the cyber talent gap [Commentary]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last May, President Trump signed a long-anticipated Executive Order on \u201cStrengthening Our Nation\u2019s Cybersecurity\u201d (Executive Order 13800). In that order, he asked various federal agencies for a comprehensive report card on the \u2018state\u2019 of our country\u2019s cybersecurity \u2014 albeit with a focus principally on the federal government \u2014 and we are just a few days away from seeing their grades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of those report cards will deal with the nation\u2019s cyber talent gap, and the EO asks a task force of agencies led by the Departments of Homeland Security and Commerce (and its National Institute of Standards and Technology) a series of largely rhetorical questions about whether and how it\u2019s being closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why rhetorical? Because we already pretty much know the answers. Precise estimates on the size of the gap may vary, but every bit of empirical evidence indicates that it\u2019s a \u2018hugely\u2019 one. For example, a survey released earlier this year by the Information Security Certification Consortium (ISC2), sponsored in part by my former employer, projects that gap to be as much as 1.8 million worldwide by 2022. Given our country\u2019s digital dependence, much of that gap is likely to be found within our own virtual borders. And more importantly, there\u2019s no evidence that our nation\u2019s education system is going to make a dent in the gap anytime soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my view, cyber talent \u2014 the \u2018wetware\u2019 in our networks \u2014 is perhaps the most critical element of our cyber infrastructure \u2026 not just in the federal government but in the U.S. overall, and as the gap grows, so too does our vulnerability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Great and Growing Gap, and What to Do About It<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a problem, yet all we\u2019ve done as a nation \u2014 at least to date \u2014 is to admire it. To be sure, individual organizations and institutions, even some states (like Florida, which established an innovative Center for Cybersecurity to integrate the cyber workforce development efforts of all of its state universities) are doing their part to close that gap, but the U.S. has never treated this as a national <\/i>problem, one that requires a national solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good news is that the Trump EO has at least started that conversation. To be sure, it began as almost an afterthought. Early drafts of the order neglected the subject altogether, focusing instead on the technical aspects of cyber, but thanks to the efforts of a committed few working behind the scenes, the talent gap was added to the order\u2019s various taskings. However, if the report concludes what we already know \u2014 that the gap exists, and current efforts to close it remain inadequate \u2014 that does us little good. So, what can we do to rectify all that rhetoric? Here some ideas, some incremental, some a bit more ambitious:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Expand cyber \u2018scholarships for service.\u2019 <\/b>One of the easiest and quickest fixes would be to expand the size and scope of the National Science Foundation\u2019s Cyber Scholarship for Service program. Right now, NSF\u2019s relatively meager budget limits its size to just a few hundred cyber students a year, all with a rather loose post-graduate federal service commitment. That\u2019s not nearly enough to satisfy the government\u2019s needs, much less the nation\u2019s. Let federal agencies put their own money into the program, and let them <\/i>pick the recipients up front, when they\u2019re sophomores or juniors, so that they can give them internships \u2014 and security clearances \u2014 that will make them job-ready on day one. I\u2019d also give the private sector access to the program, with their own money of course, but with the graduates they hire subject to a national service commitment (see my previous blog<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Establish tougher cyber academic standards.<\/b> Today, NSA and DHS jointly manage something called the Centers for Academic Excellence (CAE), which sets academic standards for cyber and information security degree programs. That program is fine as far as it goes, but it needs to be put on steroids. At present, CAE certification remains largely a paperwork exercise, and everyone in the cyber education business knows that it tells you little about the quality of a cyber degree or graduate. That\u2019s not intended as a backhanded critique of the CAE program; it was never designed nor funded to do more than it has, but it\u2019s time to raise the bar. Make cyber accreditation \u2014 and I use that term deliberately \u2014 as rigorous as it is for any law, medical, engineering or business school. And get the nation\u2019s colleges and universities, under the leadership of the Department of Education, to adopt them, just as they have with other accreditation standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Tap new sources of potential cyber talent \u2026 like women, minorities and vets. <\/b>Many have commented on the need to attract more women and minorities to the cybersecurity field, and there are plenty of pilot programs that have attempted to do so. Let\u2019s identify those that have worked and fund them with cyber education grants \u2014 to states, public and private universities, community colleges, even school districts \u2014 that prove that they can do so successfully. Veterans also offer a relatively untapped source of raw cyber talent. And I\u2019m not talking about cyber-trained vets \u2026 they typically have their pick of cyber jobs. Rather, I\u2019m suggesting something like the old \u2018troops to teachers\u2019 program that was created at the end of the Cold War; it provided post-service opportunities for downsized servicemen and women to become educators \u2026 and in so doing, help address a national teacher shortage. So, a model exists, and the funding may already be there in the form of the new GI Bill \u2014 but the training programs necessary to turn a vet with aptitude into a cyber ninja are in short supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Drive cyber apprenticeship and two-year degree programs. <\/b>We can\u2019t just limit our focus to undergraduate and graduate degrees in cyber \u2026 the gap is too big, and the skills required too varied. Not all cyber work requires a fancy diploma. We need to expand the cyber talent pipeline to include the 21st century version of the apprenticeship programs that have served our nation so well in the past, as well as two-year degree programs from our country\u2019s community colleges. Undergraduate and graduate-level accreditation standards would have to be modified, of course \u2014 not compromised, but modified \u2014 but that can be done with a little leadership from the Departments of Education and Labor. Bottom line: If apprentice programs can train \u2018blue collar\u2019 workers (and I use that term very respectfully) to build airplanes, satellites and nuclear submarines, then we can do the same to add more cyber talent to the pipeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Increase the supply of cyber teachers, especially in K-12. <\/b>New, tougher two-year, undergraduate and graduate accreditation standards will incentivize colleges and universities to strengthen their cybersecurity degree programs. However, they depend on a K-12 pipeline of STEM and related students that historically has never produced more than a trickle \u2026 especially when it comes to women and minorities. The shortfall isn\u2019t helped by declining school district budgets, as well as declining student interest, but it starts with teachers. There just aren\u2019t enough of them who know enough about cyber to ignite the interest of their students. NSA has already laid the groundwork for addressing this shortfall, piloting a short \u2018summer camp\u2019 for current K-12 cyber teachers, but much more is needed. This oft-neglected area is ripe for national investment \u2026 in this case, perhaps with additional competitive grants to states, school districts, colleges, and universities to develop innovative programs that increase the pipeline of cyber-skilled teachers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A National Problem That Demands Federal Leadership<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are just a few of the initiatives that I hope to see in the Executive Order\u2019s cyber workforce report. There are lots of other ideas floating around out there, but the key will be to take the best of them, weld them into a national cyber workforce development strategy, and put some money where our mouth is! Other nations \u2014 ranging from the United Kingdom to the United Arab Emirates \u2014 have already done so, and we should humbly follow their lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note that this does not require the federal government to do this all by itself. To the contrary, that\u2019s the job of colleges and universities, community and junior colleges, states and school districts. But it will require the federal government to provide leadership in this area \u2026 not more rhetoric, but real leadership. The invisible hand of the market just can\u2019t keep pace with the demand for cyber professionals, nor with the cyber threats that drive that demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given our reliance on all things cyber, this is a national problem, and it demands a national solution that only the federal government can drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A retired career federal executive with almost 40 years of public service, Ron Sanders was recently named director of the University of South Florida\u2019s School of Public Affairs. Ron has been contributing to Federal Times since 2013 and will continue to do so in his new capacity.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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