Building a Cyber Force

Building the most capable cyber workforce is critical to national security. The challenge is figuring how to get there, said members of an industry panel at AFA’s CyberFutures Conference last week. Lynn Dugle, president of Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems, said companies are relying on historical learning methods that don’t apply to cyberspace. “I’m extremely confident that if I went to many of my colleagues who are generals and I said to them, ‘Sir, we are going to enter the battle tomorrow. We are outmanned 1:10 or 1:12.’ I don’t think their response would be, ‘We are going to create a four-year college curriculum and fill the gap,'” she said. Dugle also argued that industry is looking in the wrong places for talent, saying the best hackers won’t necessarily be found at the most prestigious universities. Robert Brammer, Northrop Grumman’s vice president for advanced technology, asserted that identifying, recruiting, and retaining the right talent is the biggest challenge. “I know we are making progress, but I also have a very healthy respect for how much more there is to get done,” he said.