Pentagon to Hire 3000 More Cybersecurity Employees by 2016

March 11, 2015 | by Edcel Suyo | Researches 0 Comments

The Pentagon has been given a go signal to fast-track the hiring of 3,000 cybersecurity employees and fill the remaining 6000 positions in the United States Cyber Command by 2016. Data attacks have been constantly growing but there is a shortage of people to combat them. The Pentagon was permitted to hire additional work-force in this drive to quickly occupy various slots.

“In recent years, we’ve heard a lot of news related to data breach and attacks against Organizations and Governments, so the need for skills reinforces is becoming critical.” Francesco Stillavato, IT Security Researcher and Instructor, said. “Every organization should care about IT Security. It does not matter if you are in the government sector or not, if you deal with online data (yours or your client data) you should always think about what would happen if someone breaches into my IT infrastructure. This news confirms that people are starting to take IT Security as a major priority.”

A report from Nextgov indicates that applicants will be based on the skills and knowledge of the job candidate. “The Pentagon can skip the process of rating applicants based on traditional competitive criteria. Instead, the department can offer jobs based on the candidate’s unique skills and knowledge. The special qualifications include the ability to analyze malware, respond to incidents, manage cyber fire drills and detect vulnerabilities, among other things.” View the report here.

Salary range starts at $42,399 and goes up to $132,122.

With the demand of IT Security professionals rising, Francesco advises those who want to invest in a career in Cybersecurity to look for training courses that provide value.

“First of all, you should go for a course that gives you a very strong basic knowledge. Only after you finish it you should go on and improve your skills with more in depth courses. Moreover, I think that any IT course, security-related or not, should give you the ability to practice and test what you are learning. Practice is what will help you to grow faster in IT security.

IT Security certifications are also very important. They are one of the few things that prove your skills. Furthermore, you should be always updated: follow groups and articles on the latest in IT Security updates. Do not underestimate IT conferences! They are a great place to meet people that share their knowledge and passion in IT Security.”

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Francesco Stillavato is a Senior IT Security researcher and instructor at eLearnSecurity with 6 years of experience in different aspects of Information Security. His experience spans from web application secure coding to secure network design. He has contributed to the Joomla project as a Developer and has conducted a number of assessments as a freelance.