It is an honor to participate in today’s White House National Cyber Workforce and Education Summit. We are facing an enormous national security challenge given that there is a significant shortage of cybersecurity professionals to fill all the open positions, and almost all open cybersecurity jobs require several years of experience and numerous specialized skills.
Basically, we have a cyber workforce chicken and egg problem that has our national security and private sector scrambled. We need a better way to move forward to train the next generation of cybersecurity workers today.
As stated in the Summit announcement, participants will discuss:
The need to create and prioritize new skills-based pathways to cybersecurity jobs, including at community colleges, through Registered Apprenticeships, and via non-traditional training opportunities for Americans who can help defend our country and make a good living for themselves and their families. Training models such as Registered Apprenticeships can allow career seekers to earn and learn at the same time while often obtaining college credit, degrees, and a nationally recognized credential.
How in filling these open cybersecurity positions, the United States has an opportunity to build pipelines for historically untapped talent, including underserved and diverse communities, to reach jobs that often pay well and do not require a four-year degree.
And how investing in cyber training and education will: (1) enable Americans who comprise the lifeblood of our economy – including those building the next generation of our Nation’s infrastructure – to be successful in our digital economy; and (2) empower society to harness cyber capabilities to achieve our individual and collective aspirations.
Luta Security has been innovating in the cybersecurity workforce space since 2016, creating countless opportunities for workers in the cyber gig economy, contract, and full-time regular employee level.
As part of our expert staff augmentation services, we hire cybersecurity professionals of all skill and experience levels, pairing more experienced cyber professionals with junior resources to give them what no book or class can teach: hands-on experience. We find that our special apprenticeship and expert engagement model helps provide our customers with stronger and more flexible cyber staffing resources that suit their needs, as well as helps to close the skills gap specifically in vulnerability disclosure for the cybersecurity workforce of today and tomorrow.
I will be discussing our vulnerability disclosure and bug bounty staff augmentation and managed program model in more detail during my Black Hat talk, “Bug Bounty Evolution: Not Your Grandson's Bug Bounty,” on Thursday, August 11 at 10:20 a.m. PT. Look forward to seeing you there!
Photo credit: stasvolik