Acknowledging a shortfall in the pool of cybersecurity talent needed to combat today's increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks, the federal government announced it is actively expanding recruitment.
A memo [pdf] from the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), outlined steps the administration is taking to improve its workforce of cybersecurity personnel for protecting government information technology (IT) systems.
Following on initiatives spelled out in the president's Cybersecurity National Action Plan (CNAP), the OMB on Tuesday released the Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Strategy, intended to foster cybersecurity talent entering federal service and improve conditions for personnel already devoted to cybersecurity.
It sets out four initiatives: Expand the cybersecurity workforce through education and training, recruit the best cyber talent, retain and develop talent, and identify cybersecurity workforce needs.
The CNAP budget for 2017 calls for $19 billion for cybersecurity – a 35 percent increase over the 2016 enacted level.
