AmeriCorps for Cyber

Lindsay McKenzie at CyberScoop has great coverage of the Public Sector Workforce Summit held in Washington D.C. earlier this week. This paragraph really jumped out at me:

Representatives from professional groups, including the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, highlighted the difficulty many states and local governments are experiencing in hiring and retaining talent — particularly in IT and finance — following the “great resignation” that accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic. 

I think this gets to heart of the problem, many state and almost all local and tribal governments have trouble hiring and retaining talent. Why work for a government agency when you can make so much more money working for almost anyone else, especially at the state and local level.

But, there is a lot of value in working for the public sector, not just because you are protecting your fellow citizens, but because you have an opportunity to make a real difference that you can be proud of in helping to keep people safe.

But, even people who do want to serve, often find the challenges of even applying for a government position daunting. This was also addressed during the conference:

For recruiting, HR officials are taking a multi-pronged approach, Woodson Welch said, removing barriers such as college-degree requirements and increasing flexibility in work hours and remote-work policies. Longitudinal studies conducted by the PSHRA show that it’s getting more difficult to fill positions in public safety, health care, engineering and skilled trades, but some of the biggest public sector hiring gaps are in IT and finance, Woodson Welch said.

State, local and tribal governments need cybersecurity people. Schools and local governments are absolutely losing the fight to ransomware right now and there is no national solution that can solve this problem. We need people on the ground locally.

I think this is where something like AmeriCorps can help. AmeriCorps has just celebrated their 30th anniversary and is still going strong. AmeriCorps pays for college tuition or provides loan forgiveness for volunteers who engage in service tasks around the country making communities better.

Why can’t we do the same thing for cyber? Provide college tuition or equivalent training reimbursement for students in return for a multi-year commitment to working for a school, local or tribal government helping secure their environment. A program like this would give local governments the people they need to improve security, it would also increase the number of people entering the cybersecurity workforce, including attracting people from underserved communities.

After their commitment, the students may decide that public service is right for them and they can convert to full time employment. If not, they will not only have the classroom training they will have real-world experience that employers are looking for, making them very attractive candidates. Given the proliferation of attacks against local governments and schools they will undoubtedly be hardened cyber professionals by the time their volunteer period ends.

A program like this would solve so many problems that we in cybersecurity are facing now and it would provide a path to successful and gainful employment for thousands of students around the country, making it a win for everyone involved.