At a June 2023 House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection hearing, Will Markow, vice president of applied research at Lightcast, likened the public sector’s cyber talent shortage to “missing one-third of an army.”
Government agencies are “stepping onto the digital battlefield missing nearly a third of our cyber army,” Markow told the committee, noting that 460,000 new skilled cybersecurity workers are needed to meet employer demand.
The Providing Individuals Various Opportunities for Technical Training (PIVOTT) to Build a Skills-Based Cyber Workforce Act of 2024, or the “Cyber PIVOTT Act,” hopes to open up new pathways for would-be government cyberworkers to acquire the skills needed to fill that gap.
Lawmakers say the recently introduced legislation increases the accessibility of cyber training and education by establishing a new full-scholarship program for two-year degrees at community colleges and technical schools, which are granted in exchange for required government service.
“As threats to our critical infrastructure and civilian networks from Beijing, Tehran, and Moscow grow and AI lowers the barrier to entry for attacks, our worsening cyber workforce gap has created a dangerous homeland security threat,” said House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-Tn.), in a statement announcing the bill’s introduction.
“ROTC programs offer a valuable pathway for students who don’t have the opportunity to attend a military academy to begin a lifetime of dedicated military service,” he added.
“Likewise, the ‘Cyber PIVOTT Act’ opens doors for professionals seeking to ‘pivot’ to the specialty of cybersecurity without a traditional four-year degree––rewarding and supporting those who use their valuable skills to protect government networks and ensuring they’re ready to work on day one.”
According to Green’s statement, the Cyber PIVOTT Act would do so by taking a number of steps, including:
- Establishing a new, ROTC-like full-scholarship program for two-year degrees at community colleges and technical schools, to be operated by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), in exchange for required government service at the federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial levels.
- Targeting entry-level cyber talent, including those who would like to “pivot” their careers.
- Expediting the pathway into government service at any level, including positions that require a security clearance, while providing ample opportunities for upskilling and reskilling after completion of the program.
- Making service exemptions for military members who would like to build cyber skills but have already served their country.
- Providing a pathway to begin training 10,000 cyber professionals per year while seeking to provide additional Department of Homeland Security support to the CyberCorps Scholarship for Service Program.
“Every minute our cyber professionals are unprepared to meet the moment gives foreign adversaries and opportunistic criminals the upper hand,” said Green. “Recognizing this threat, the ‘Cyber PIVOTT Act’ focuses on the most valuable resource for effective, whole-of-government cybersecurity––the right people in the right jobs, with the right skills, when our country needs them most.”
11 October 2024
Category
HR News Article