Fergie's Tech Blog

Report: U.S. Must Attract More Cyber Security Pros

Brian Prince writes on eWeek:

The U.S. government needs to do more than buy technology to improve cyber-security – it needs to hire more experts, according to a new report.

The report was prepared by the non-profit Partnership for Public Service and consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton and paints a picture of the government’s cyber-security efforts as dysfunctional, where a lack of coordination and fragmented governance “hinders the ability to meet federal cybersecurity workforce needs.”

Among other things, the report found in a survey of 18 federal agencies that only 40 percent of CIOs, CISOs and IT hiring managers are satisfied or very satisfied with the quality of applicants for federal cyber-security jobs. The report also found a disconnect between front-line hiring managers and government’s HR specialists.

“Our surveys reveal that front-line managers are consistently less satisfied with the effort to hire new cybersecurity talent than their peers in HR,” according to the report. “In addition, 41 percent of the CIOs/CISOs and 38 percent of HR managers reported being either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied at the level of collaboration with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which should provide vital support for agencies looking to acquire skilled cybersecurity workers.”

posted by Fergie @ 7/22/2009 07:49:00 PM