CHALLENGES
To address the numerous workforce challenges DoD faces, we must
take a unied and coordinated approach that takes meaningful action
to reduce the talent pipeline gap, increase the quality and diversity
of our cyber workforce, and prioritize the personal and professional
needs of our cyber practitioners.
T
he scope and pace of malicious
cyber activities continues to grow,
even after the COVID-19 pandemic
created a signicant amount of disruption and
resulted in lasting impacts on the global work
environment. The World Economic Forum—
Global Technology 2021 Report estimated
a 238% increase in cyber attacks due to the
massive uptick in and shift to remote work
and cloud-based solutions. Additionally, state
actors and afliated hacker groups have
increased their attacks targeting the federal
government and private industry. Some recent
cyber attacks from foreign actors that threaten
the Nation’s security are the SolarWinds hack,
which was directed by the Russian Intelligence
Service, the ransomware attack on the Colonial
Pipeline by a Russia-linked cybercrime group,
and cyber espionage and other malicious cyber
— Mr. John Sherman,
DoD CIO
operations targeting a range of government
and private-sector organizations across
industries from Iranian-linked hackers.
To combat current and future cyber threats
and attacks, the DoD must employ an agile,
highly skilled and diverse cyber workforce.
The Department must also expand its cyber
workforce with various roles and develop
talent to securely build, operate and maintain
its digital and critical infrastructures and
protect and defend our data against cyber
adversaries at home and abroad. However,
there is a recognized shortage of skilled
cyber personnel that could potentially impact
operational readiness across the Department
and put national security at risk. Despite the
vast expansion of cyber educational and
experiential opportunities, the Nation’s cyber
talent pipeline remains limited.
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