Tag Archives: workforce

House defense bill would usher in cybersecurity changes at DOD

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The House of Representatives this week overwhelmingly passed a defense policy bill with several cybersecurity measures aimed at better securing Pentagon networks. The legislation — the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) — seeks closer collaboration between the departments of Defense and Homeland Security in defending against hackers, asks for quick notification of data breaches of military personnel, and continues to crack down on foreign-made telecom products that are deemed security threats. The NDAA is an annual ritual that lawmakers use to shape Pentagon policies and budget plans while throwing in some pet projects to boot. The House bill — a $717 billion behemoth — eventually will be merged with the Senate’s version, which that chamber’s Armed Services Committee also approved this week. It’s unclear when the Senate bill will have floor votes. One key provision of the House bill, according to the Rules Committee print, would set up a pilot program for […]

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The NSA now officially has a new chief

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Gen. Paul Nakasone, an experienced military leader with a unique background in cyber-operations and intelligence gathering, has been approved to take over the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command. The Senate confirmed Nakasone, who currently leads Army Cyber Command, by voice vote Tuesday morning. The promotion was expected for months and faced little opposition, but like most things in the Senate, it took some time to schedule. President Donald Trump nominated Nakasone for the job on Feb. 13. The previous NSA chief, Adm. Michael Rogers, is expected to officially retire soon after having served for four years at the top of the spy agency. During his tenure, the NSA attempted a massive reorganization effort known as “NSA21,” which combined certain components of the NSA’s defensive and offensive cyber teams for the first time. The current hierarchy, approved by Congress, prescribes that the leader of NSA is also simultaneously the head of U.S. Cyber Command, a still-nascent cyberwarfare […]

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How to Confront the Cyber Security Workforce Crisis

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The number of cyber security job openings around the globe is staggering. Cisco estimated that there were 1 million unfilled cyber security jobs worldwide in 2014 and predicts that number will grow to 3.5 million openings by 2021. The unprecedented nee… Continue reading How to Confront the Cyber Security Workforce Crisis→

Tech Brief: Put your mobile strategy to work for agency transformation

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There are more mobile devices than people in the world. Most likely, you and other federal employees are completely comfortable navigating life around a personal smartphone. More than three quarters of Americans do — using it for everything from reading to connecting with friends to tracking your health. So why are so many federal agencies still stuck in the PC era, and what’s keeping them from capitalizing on the inherent productivity gains that a mobile strategy can provide? What may be surprising: Your agency may already have the available mobility tools needed to boost workforce productivity, enhance mission outcomes and improve security, according to a new tech brief on mobile strategies in government. Mobile Myopia Too often in the federal workforce, “mobile” means remote access to work email and calendars — and stops there. Employees find themselves chained to their desks to perform tasks that they could do faster, more […]

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Cybersecurity pros will get paid more in 2018 than ever before, headhunting firms say

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With cyberattacks becoming more commonplace, the need for top security professionals has prompted a notable rise in salaries. Research from recruitment firm Robert Walters predicts that cybersecurity salaries will rise 7 percent in 2018. The broader information technology sector is also expected to experience a 2 percent salary increase overall. Josh Fisher, a senior vice president for D.C.-based professional staffing firm HireStrategy, told CyberScoop, that “conservative forecasts for cybersecurity salary increases in 2018, would be in the 10 to 15 percent range based on supply and demand in that space.” Cybersecurity professionals have been asking for higher wages, and with the need to hire top talent, companies typically accommodate their requests, experts say. A recent study from (ISC)2 showed that by 2022 there will be a shortage of 1.8 million professionals to work in IT. Last year, a Stanford University research program found that cybersecurity job postings on popular hiring websites […]

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Move Guides acquires Polaris Global Mobility to expand services for expats and relocation

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 Relocation, relocation, relocation, as the saying (sort of) goes. On the heels of raising $48 million last year to tap into the growing needs of businesses to handle global workforces (a huge if sometimes controversial area of the job market), Mo… Continue reading Move Guides acquires Polaris Global Mobility to expand services for expats and relocation→

Danielle Applestone: Building the Workforce of 2030

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You wake up one morning with The Idea — the one new thing that the world can’t do without. You slave away at it night and day, locked in a garage expending the perspiration that Edison said was 99 percent of your job. You Kickstart, you succeed, you get your prototypes out the door. Orders for the new thing pour in, you get a permanent space in some old factory, and build assembly workstations.  You order mountains of parts and arrange them on shiny chrome racks, and you’re ready to go — except for one thing. There’s nobody sitting at …read more

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Army must empower next generation to succeed in cyber, senior official says

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For the armed forces to succeed in cyberspace, the military must avoid “groupthink” by exploring new approaches and empowering junior service members, a senior U.S. Army official says. To quickly develop the Army’s cyber capabilities requires that leadership consider unique options while also adjusting for a different culture brought in by recruits who are inherently digitally savvy, according to Col. Chris Wade, director of the Army’s Task Force Cyber Strong. The program is designed to quickly develop and improve the military’s ability to defend against and launch cyberattacks. “What we want to avoid in the Army is that ‘groupthink,’” Wade said Thursday at the Red Hat Government Symposium presented by FedScoop. “That’s challenging for us as leaders … we got to embrace what’s going on .. giving power to the lowest levels so that guys can think through problems and rapidly react.” Wade, who serves in the Army’s Office of the Deputy Chief […]

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When feds want to hire a cyber-ninja, time is more important than money

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The time it takes to actually onboard a new federal employee is a much more significant problem than pay and benefits when it comes to hiring top cybersecurity talent for U.S. agencies, former federal officials and private sector executives said Thursday. Conventional wisdom holds that federal government jobs can’t compete with the private sector on remuneration, but money generally is not the issue for highly skilled cybersecurity workers, panel members said at the Dell Technologies Digital Transformation Summit produced by FedScoop. “The challenge on the government side is time to hire,” said Karen Evans, a former senior technology official with the Office of Management and Budget under President George W. Bush and now the national director of the U.S. Cyber Challenge. It generally takes months — sometimes more than a year — to complete the background check and other bureaucratic procedures to start someone as a federal employee. And that, explained Evans, is more of a problem […]

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FBI’s recruitment strategy for cybersecurity pros starts early, focuses on high school

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The FBI’s longterm strategy for hiring proficient cybersecurity professionals involves reaching into high schools, helping foster STEM education and perhaps most importantly, encouraging students to enroll in Scholarship for Service programs that eventually guide them toward Quantico, said Howard Marshall, deputy assistant director of the bureau’s cybersecurity division. “[Cyber workforce recruitment] is a huge challenge for us, maybe one of our biggest,” Marshall said Wednesday at CyberTalks in Washington, D.C. “We have a significant portion of our agents and investigators that are not equipped, what you could probably call not tech-savvy, that are not going to be much help when it comes to the technical side of an investigation.” Marshall said the FBI currently has a nationwide pilot program in which agents are working to encourage the study and development of science, technology, engineering and mathematics courses in high school. The idea is to get students engaged in exercises and other activities that […]

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