The White House Wants You Working In Cybersecurity

There are a lot of cybersecurity issues facing the tech world, as you no doubt are aware. The rise of cyberattacks against businesses, organizations, and governments is highly concerning, with the answer being less than certain. According to the US government, however, part of the issue is a national shortage of cybersecurity talent.

As highlighted by Protocol, the White House is gearing up for a summit Tuesday to shine a light on the lack of workers filling open cybersecurity jobs. According to the White House, there are approximately 700,000 cybersecurity positions available in the US job market: The demand is there, we’re just missing the talent.

Experts from across the cybersecurity spectrum, including members of the Biden administration, will be participating in Tuesday’s summit. A priority for discussions will be how to develop new “skills-based pathways to cybersecurity jobs” as well as the importance of giving opportunities to traditionally underserved communities to fill cybersecurity positions.

However, some cite one key reason these cybersecurity roles remain unfilled, a reason the White House has yet to mention—a lack of entry-level positions. For the most part, companies are attempting to pull from the current pool of talent with resumes in the industry, which can only get you so far. After all, there’s a limited number of experienced names in the field, far fewer than required to fill 700,000 jobs.

A big solution could be creating more entry-level positions that give an opportunity to workers with limited experience in cybersecurity. The more you can widen the pool, the more those important roles can be filled down the line.

Cover photo by Field Engineer/Pexels