Over the Christmas break, I did some holiday reading. On my table were “A Christmas Carol,” “Miracle on 34th Street” and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012.
Tough choices.
Okay, I picked up the Defense Authorization Act. It isn’t Charles Dickens or a “34th Street” delight, but I did find some interesting stories.
For example: Cybersecurity is going to be a dominating factor in years to come.
In Subtitle D — Cybersecurity Matters SEC. 931, you will find a section titled “Strategy to Acquire Capabilities to Detect Previously Unknown Cyber Attacks.”
I’ll save you all the government bureaucratic language and get to the nitty-gritty: There are likely to be more jobs in this field.
The news gets better.
In SEC. 1076 is a section on the “Study on the Recruitment, Retention, and Development of Cyberspace Experts.”
It says the Defense secretary shall conduct an independent study examining the availability of military and civilian personnel for Department of Defense defensive and offensive cyberspace operations, identifying any gaps in meeting personnel needs, and recommending available mechanisms to fill such gaps, including permanent and temporary positions.
Now, this report can take up to a year, but once completed it will include the following:
●A statement of capabilities and number of cyberspace operations personnel required to meet the defensive and offensive cyberspace operation requirements of the Department of Defense.
●A description of the obstacles to adequate recruitment and retention of such personnel.
●A description of incentives that enable and encourage individuals with cyberskills from outside the Department of Defense to affiliate with the Armed Forces and civilian employees of the Department of Defense.
●Identification of legal, policy or administrative impediments to attracting and retaining cyberspace operations personnel.
●Recommendations for legislative or policy changes necessary to increase the availability of cyberspace operations personnel.
It sounds as if there’s a serious effort underway for the Department of Defense to ramp up the staffing required to deal with the cyberthreat. Since this report will be a year in the making, we can forecast that the recommendation will be to hire more personnel.
The focus is not only in DoD, either. The authorization act discusses collaboration between DoD and the Department of Homeland Security.
I’m predicting that cybersecurity hiring will be strong for the next three to five years — and across the government for some years to come.
This is good news if you’re already in the cybersecurity field. And if you are considering a career to pursue, this one sounds like a good bet.
It wasn’t Dickens, but it was still good reading.
Derrick T. Dortch, president of the Diversa Group, is a career counselor who specializes in government job searches and military transition. Send your comments and questions to fedworker@washpost.com.
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