by Dr. Mansur Hasib, CISSP, PMP, CPHIMS Program Chair, Cybersecurity Technology, The Graduate School, University of Maryland University College In order for any discipline to advance and grow, each generation of established thought leaders must mentor and invest in the next generation. The new generation can infuse new ideas, varied approaches, and innovative new ways to explain and present material. This is exactly what happened in a dramatic way at the 2019 Secure Summit DC hosted by (ISC)² . John McCumber and Susan Lausch of (ISC)² invited me to organize a contingent of 30 graduate cybersecurity students and recent graduates from our award winning programs at University of Maryland University College to volunteer for a few hours at the conference

by Dr. Mansur Hasib, CISSP, PMP, CPHIMS Program Chair, Cybersecurity Technology, The Graduate School, University of Maryland University College In order for any discipline to advance and grow, each generation of established thought leaders must mentor and invest in the next generation. The new generation can infuse new ideas, varied approaches, and innovative new ways to explain and present material. This is exactly what happened in a dramatic way at the 2019 Secure Summit DC hosted by (ISC)² . John McCumber and Susan Lausch of (ISC)² invited me to organize a contingent of 30 graduate cybersecurity students and recent graduates from our award winning programs at University of Maryland University College to volunteer for a few hours at the conference

An Executive Order signed by United States President Donald Trump aims to grow the government’s cybersecurity capability, improve integration of the cybersecurity workforce between federal departments, and strengthen the skills of individual cybersecurity practitioners. The order, titled Executive Order on America’s Cybersecurity Workforce and signed by the president on May 2, creates measures to help federal agencies retrain workers interested in cybersecurity and requires agencies to adopt the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Framework in government contracts. It includes an incentive component, creating an annual competition with cash rewards of at least $25,000 “to identify, challenge, and reward the United States Government’s best cybersecurity practitioners and teams across offensive and defensive cybersecurity disciplines.” The order’s primary goal is to

The cybersecurity profession remains primarily a man’s world. But for how long? (ISC)² research reveals women are making fast gains in the industry, and as a group, they are setting their sights on leadership roles. Overall, female representation in the cybersecurity workforce has increased to about one quarter (24%), more than double the 11% estimate from 2016, according to (ISC)2’s Women in Cybersecurity report. The report is based on findings in the (ISC)² Cybersecurity Workforce Study 2018, and it uses different research methodology from the earlier study. For instance, it includes women who spend at least 25% of their work hours on cybersecurity tasks. As of now, the industry still skews largely male, but the gender mix is certainly changing

By now you’re well aware of the widely-reported (ISC)² research that shows there is a global cybersecurity shortage of 2.93 million professionals. Identifying, recruiting and training skilled talent to adequately secure organizational data assets obviously remains a top priority in our industry. Well, over the past few weeks, both Tripwire and IBM have published reports that focus on different layers of the problem and add to the conversation. In its Cybersecurity Skills Gap Survey 2019, Tripwire found that 80% of IT security professionals believe it’s becoming more difficult to find skilled cybersecurity professionals. Not a surprising figure. The interesting wrinkle here? 93% of the respondents also indicated that the reason it’s so difficult is that the required skills have changed