White House’s new fix for cyber job gaps: Serve the nation in infosec

The White House has unveiled a new strategy to fill some of the hundreds of thousands of critical cybersecurity vacancies across the US: Pitch cyber as a national service.

The Office of the National Cyber Director announced its Service for America campaign yesterday, a two-month "sprint" that aims to connect Americans looking for decent careers with work in the cybersecurity industry. 

"Throughout our history, generation after generation of Americans have stepped up to meet the challenges of their day," National Cyber Director Harry Coker Jr wrote in a blog post announcing the campaign. "Today, we face a new challenge and with it a new opportunity to serve: defending cyberspace."

The Administration is planning to hold several career events between now and the end of October, along with seminars for job seekers on how to navigate the federal government job application process along with a week of workshops from NIST on exploring cybersecurity careers. 

The ONCD is working with the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management on Service for America, and many of the events taking place as part of the program are geared toward filling open government positions. But not all, as Coker mentioned, the critical need to fill cybersecurity jobs in the private sector as well. 

"Cyber is everywhere, and so are cyber jobs," Coker said in a video unveiling the campaign. 

"Our Nation has a critical need for cyber talent. Today, there are approximately 500,000 open cyber jobs in the United States and that number is only going to grow as more services and products go online with the expansion of technologies like artificial intelligence," Coker added in his blog post. 

It's not like infosec professionals are a dime a dozen, though: There are far too few of them, and the ones that are out there are already burned out. That, in turn, means a lot of people need to be trained to fill the nation's cyber ranks. With a field as critical as security, it's time to open the doors to all comers, says Coker. 

"There is a perception that you need a computer science degree and a deeply technical background to get a job in cyber," he wrote. "The truth is, cyber jobs are available to anyone who wants to pursue them."

The NCD pointed to efforts outlined in last year's National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy [PDF] as ways the Biden Administration is seeking to expand the infosec workforce. Those methods include removing degree requirements from cybersecurity jobs in favor of a skills-based approach, more apprenticeships, and support for local training initiatives.

It's not clear whether the White House intends to continue the campaign's work in any way after Service for America concludes at the end of next month, or if any future pushes are planned to fill the nearly half a million vacant cybersecurity jobs. We've reached out to the White House with questions, but haven't heard back. ®