Government, military face severe shortage of cybersecurity experts.

• Author: Beidel, Eric
• Position: Cybersecurity

"It takes a network to defeat a network, "military leaders were fond of saying as they went after insurgents in Iraq. But there are other enemies out there who operate unseen and are attacking the United States. Cyberspies, hackers, and others using the Internet for nefarious purposes also operate in networks.

China, Iran and Russia host untold numbers of hackers. Whether they are state-sponsored or not is a matter of conjecture, but what is known is that they are relentless. U.S. military and civilian agencies are attempting to counter nonstop computer attacks and intrusions.

But do they have a network to counter them? There is an acute shortage of Internet security experts in the government, and no large pool of applicants waiting in the wings to join the fight.

"We need to be on the cutting edge with everyone else, from the teenager to the terrorist," Lt. Gen. Michael Basia, vice commander of Air Force Space Command, said at the Space Foundation's Cyber 1.1 conference in Colorado Springs, Colo., earlier this year. 'Tor this domain, big brains are more important than big guns or big brawn."

Citing Department of Education statistics, Roger Cressey, a senior vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton, said U.S. universities bestow about 9,000 computer science degrees each year. Parks and recreation degrees come to about 25,000.

"I'm a big fan of Amy Poehler and the show Parks and Recreation, but if that is what is motivating our youth to go in that direction, then we have a challenge in front of us," Cressey said at the conference.

The government, weighed down by a ponderous hiring process, is having a difficult time bringing on personnel with expertise in network security, Cressey said.

Entities such as the Department of Homeland Security can hire firms such as his to supply contractors, but Booz Allen Hamilton is in the same dogfight to attract and retain talent.

There simply isn't a large number of cybersecurity experts--ones with extensive experience--currently collecting unemployment checks.

"It's pure supply and demand right now The demand has never been higher, [and] the supply is limited, so a lot of firms like us, we're recruiting against each other," Cressey told National Defense. The long-term solution is to nurture the next generation of cyber-experts in high schools and universities. That will take time, and meanwhile, there are no easy answers, he said.

For the federal government, the problem is particularly acute since it has an infamously long, laborious hiring process, and most jobs require a security' clearance.

DHS with great fanfare announced in 2009 that it would hire 1,000 cybersecurity experts. At a House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Philip R. Reitinger, deputy undersecretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate, admitted that the department has fallen far short, and has only brought on some 260 new personnel. The new goal is 400 by October 2012. This comes at a time when the White House is giving more responsibility to DHS to protect computer networks in not only the civilian departments, but in the private sector as well.

Cressey said there is no escaping the fact that there will be a gap between...