(ISC)² has sent a letter to Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) in support of proposed bipartisan legislation that would direct the Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with relevant agencies, to establish “grand challenge” competitions to achieve high-priority breakthroughs in cybersecurity, including expanding our cybersecurity workforce, defending against artificial intelligence threats, and protecting our nation against cyberattacks.

The proposed Cyber Leap Act of 2020 can be read here: https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/60A3EF97-3FE3-47D9-A5B9-04E2A8AE2200

In a press release issued by Senator Rosen, who is a member of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, she said about the bill:

“We put our nation at risk if we don’t invest in our cybersecurity workforce and infrastructure. As our world becomes more digitized, I’m proud to help introduce this bill to assist our nation in developing a cybersecurity workforce with the skills needed to protect and maintain information systems and improve critical federal agencies’ security and safety.”

(ISC)² applauds these efforts to further strengthen our nation’s cybersecurity workforce by getting creative and issuing challenges. The text of the letter of support, signed by CEO David Shearer, follows.  

“Dear Senator Rosen:

I am writing on behalf of (ISC)² to express our support for your proposed Cyber Leap Act of 2020 that will compel the Secretary of Commerce to establish national cybersecurity grand challenges whose goals would include empowering our citizens with digital literacy to make safe and secure decisions online, and developing a cybersecurity workforce with measurable skills to protect our information systems. 

As the world’s largest nonprofit association of certified cybersecurity professionals, we are acutely aware of the shortage of trained cybersecurity workers and the skills gap that exists. According to the 2019 (ISC)² Cybersecurity Workforce Study, there is a widening gap of cybersecurity professionals globally. This includes a shortage of nearly 500,000 professionals here in the U.S. alone. By combining our U.S. cybersecurity workforce estimates, which indicate a current workforce of 804,700, and this gap data, we can calculate that the cybersecurity workforce needs to grow by 62% in order to meet the demands of U.S. businesses today. With more than 150,000 members worldwide, we are committed to expanding and strengthening the cybersecurity workforce.

We also applaud the additional focus points of the Act on building resilient systems that raise adversary costs, and on reducing cybersecurity risks to Federal networks and systems.

Thank you for your leadership on this critical issue and we look forward to supporting this important legislation.”