A new bipartisan Senate bill wants to bolster the cybersecurity workforce by coordinating workforce programs and defining cybersecurity career pathways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The \u201cHarvesting American Cybersecurity Knowledge through Education (HACKED) Act,\u201d introduced Nov. 5 by two Republicans and two Democrats in the Senate, would direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which sets security controls for technology used in the federal government, to produce \u201cstandards and guidelines improving cybersecurity awareness of employees and contractors of federal agencies” within three years of the bill becoming law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill also seeks to coordinate workforce programs across the federal government through a new Office of Science and Technology Policy working group, according to a news release. Individual agencies have several workforce programs aimed at improving and expanding their cybersecurity staff, though they are largely agency-specific. The Office of Management and Budget also has a cyber reskilling academy, though it\u2019s currently a small-scale operation with only 25 employees going through the first cohort, which graduated in July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis legislation makes investments in federal cybersecurity programs and will help us fill the gaps in our cyberdefense,\u201d said Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev. \u201cWe must continue to prioritize forward-thinking solutions that provide our businesses, communities, and government with the skilled workforce they need to strengthen our nation\u2019s cybersecurity infrastructure and protect Americans\u2019 data from bad actors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cyber reskilling academy has also had a difficult time placing graduates into cybersecurity jobs because of the the Office of Personnel Management\u2019s general schedule for federal employee hiring. The bill seeks to redress the trouble in hiring cybersecurity requirements, directing OPM to \u201cidentify career opportunities in the federal government, including noncompetitive hiring pathways, including for individuals who participate in federal cybersecurity workforce training programs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Cyber Seek, there are 17,000 cybersecurity job openings in the public sector. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said the bill would \u201chelp address this by training cybersecurity educators and skilling American workers to do these jobs, as well as increasing coordination on these issues throughout the government.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The HACKED Act also would incentivize the recruitment of cybersecurity educators and align education and training programs to meet cyber workforce needs, according to the news release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is critical that the United States stay ahead of malicious cyber activity with a workforce that can safeguard our innovation, research and work environments,\u201d Wicker said. \u201cThis legislation is an important first step to expand the cybersecurity workforce and provide tools to support necessary education and training.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Congress has taken notice of the cybersecurity workforce shortage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":35558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":10,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"8":{"categories":["home","congress","federal-oversight","daily-brief","newsletters","it-cloud-report","hr","management"],"primary_category":"hr"}}},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3252],"class_list":["post-23619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyber"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"GTXBOLEIM5CKFAFPM3G6B3ZNHU","arc_canonical_url":"\/congress\/capitol-hill\/2019\/11\/05\/new-bill-wants-to-map-out-federal-cyber-career-paths\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n