Special Editions

N2K’s Brandon Karpf speaks with guest Justin Fanelli, Acting CTO of the US Navy, about the US Navy streamlining the innovation process. For some background, you can refer to this article. 

On this Solution Spotlight, guest Seeyew Mo, Assistant National Cyber Director, Office of the National Cyber Director at the White House, shares the nuances of the White House's skills-based approach (and how it's not only about hiring) with N2K President Simone Petrella.

Seeyew shares a progress report on the National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy nearly one year out.

For more information, you can visit the press release: National Cyber Director Encourages Adoption of Skill-Based Hiring to Connect Americans to Good-Paying Cyber Jobs.

The progress report Seeyew and Simone discuss can be found here: National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy: Initial Stages of Implementation. 

Maria Varmazis, N2K host of T-Minus Space Daily, talks with WiCyS Executive Director Lynn Dohm and N2K's Simone Petrella, Dr. Heather Monthie, and Jeff Welgan about the 2024 Cyber Talent Study.

N2K and WiCyS have come together under a common mission to attract, retain, and advance more women in cybersecurity. Together, we strive to support women throughout their career journey, and secure the future of our industry.  

This groundbreaking report leverages skills data from the professional members of Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS), and offers valuable insights into cybersecurity competencies within the industry. The Cyber Talent Study establishes a new benchmark for understanding the capabilities and potential of women in cybersecurity, and can be used to inform both individual training needs and organizational strategies for career advancement and skills enhancement. 

You can access the final report of the 2024 Cyber Talent Study here.

As part of our series on the 2024 NICE Conference, we turn our focus to the one of the keynote speakers of the conference. This year’s conference theme “Strengthening Ecosystems: Aligning Stakeholders to Bridge the Cybersecurity Workforce Gap” highlights the collective effort to strengthen the cybersecurity landscape. By joining forces with key partners, we can foster a more robust cybersecurity ecosystem to bridge the workforce gap. 

In her keynote coming up on Tuesday, June 4th, Deneen DiFiore, Chief Information Security Officer of United Airlines, will discuss "A Journey with No Destination: A CISO’s Pathway to a Cybersecurity Career."

Prior to the conference, Simone Petrella, N2K President, caught up with Deneen DiFiore. They discussed Deneen's history with NICE, the importance of prioritizing cyber talent and workforce issues, what stakeholders need to more effectively tackle the cyber skills and experience gap across the profession, and more.

Find out more about the The Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity (NICE Framework) (NIST Special Publication 800-181, revision 1). Listen to our podcast about the update. Stay tuned for our coverage of the 2024 NICE Conference.

As part of our series on the 2024 NICE Conference, we turn our focus to the Business Roundtable. This year’s conference theme “Strengthening Ecosystems: Aligning Stakeholders to Bridge the Cybersecurity Workforce Gap” highlights the collective effort to strengthen the cybersecurity landscape. By joining forces with key partners, we can foster a more robust cybersecurity ecosystem to bridge the workforce gap. Business Roundtable is an association of chief executive officers of America’s leading companies working to promote a thriving U.S. economy and expanded opportunity for all Americans through sound public policy.

The Business Roundtable launched its Cybersecurity Workforce Corporate Initiative in December of 2022. In coordination with its members and inputs from experts at Department of Commerce’s National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE), it recently released a Cybersecurity Workforce Playbook to help employers create entry points to cybersecurity careers and strengthen cybersecurity talent pipelines across various industries and sectors.

Simone Petrella, N2K President, speaks with Erin White, Business Roundtable's Senior Director, Corporate Initiatives, about the Cybersecurity Workforce Corporate Initiative, the recently released Cybersecurity Workforce Playbook, key takeaways for the private sector, and how the Business Roundtable and NICE are working together to support these initiatives.

Find out more about the The Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity (NICE Framework) (NIST Special Publication 800-181, revision 1). Stay tuned for our coverage of the 2024 NICE Conference.

On this Special Edition podcast, Dave Bittner speaks with guest Dave Hickton, Founding Director, Institute for Cyber Law, Policy, and Security at the University of Pittsburgh, and former US Attorney, on this 10th Anniversary of the first indictment of Chinese PLA actors. Hear directly from Mr. Hickton what lead to the indictment, the emotions that went along with this unprecedented action, and the legacy of the event.

On May 19, 2014, a grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania (WDPA) indicted five Chinese military hackers for computer hacking, economic espionage and other offenses directed at six American victims in the U.S. nuclear power, metals and solar products industries. 

The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to hack into American entities, to maintain unauthorized access to their computers and to steal information from those entities that would be useful to their competitors in China, including state-owned enterprises (SOEs). In some cases, it alleges, the conspirators stole trade secrets that would have been particularly beneficial to Chinese companies at the time they were stolen. In other cases, it alleges, the conspirators also stole sensitive, internal communications that would provide a competitor, or an adversary in litigation, with insight into the strategy and vulnerabilities of the American entity.

US Attorney Dave Hickton represented the Western District of Pennsylvania and was the signatory on the indictment. His team worked with the FBI Cyber Team in Pittsburgh, PA to bring about this historic action.

In this episode, we center our conversation around the Cyber Workforce Pipeline. We discuss where the next great wave of talent is going to come.

We talk more about these sources of new talent, such as K-12 programs, higher education, and trade school programs, transitioning military, and other initiatives and programs focused on cultivating the next generation of cyber professionals.

N2K’s Cyber Talent Insights provides security leaders measurable and actionable insights on your organization’s current cyber roles and capabilities to maximize your talent investments and build a business case for better hiring, developing, maintaining, and retaining your technical talent pools. Learn how at n2k.com/talent-insights.

In this episode, we shift our point of view to provide guidance for an individual's first career or perhaps considering a career change transitioning into the field. We discuss a market-driven approach to career development. We also explore how to discover one’s niche in cybersecurity, including how to stand out in this competitive market and align personal interests with career goals. Lastly, we examine the role certifications play when navigating your path throughout the talent acquisition, development, and retention of the cybersecurity workforce management lifecycle.  

N2K’s Cyber Talent Insights provides security leaders measurable and actionable insights on your organization’s current cyber roles and capabilities to maximize your talent investments and build a business case for better hiring, developing, maintaining, and retaining your technical talent pools. Learn how at n2k.com/talent-insights.

In the first episode of the series on cybersecurity workforce development, we dive into the complex world of cyber workforce management and planning, particularly as it pertains to the perspective of the enterprise.

We explore the current state of the cybersecurity workforce, navigate various challenges in talent acquisition, and explore the nuances of job classifications, titles, compensation, and the dynamics of remote, onsite, and hybrid work environments. 

Our experts further address talent development strategies like professional development, training, conferences, mentorship programs, communities of interest, and corporate cyber academies. 

Finally, we touch upon the critical aspect of talent retention, an essential component in closing the cybersecurity talent gap. We hope you will join us on this journey.

N2K’s Cyber Talent Insights provides security leaders measurable and actionable insights on your organization’s current cyber roles and capabilities to maximize your talent investments and build a business case for better hiring, developing, maintaining, and retaining your technical talent pools. Learn how at n2k.com/talent-insights.

The Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity (NICE Framework) (NIST Special Publication 800-181, revision 1) provides a set of building blocks for describing the Tasks, Knowledge, and Skills (TKS) that are needed to perform cybersecurity work by individuals or teams. Through these building blocks, the NICE Framework enables organizations to develop their workforces to perform cybersecurity work, and it helps learners to explore cybersecurity work and to engage in appropriate learning activities to develop their knowledge and skills.

On this Special Edition podcast, N2K CyberWire's Dave Bittner is joined by the team at NIST and FIU's Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy to delve into the history of the NICE Framework through its latest update and looking into the future. Brian Fonseca, Director at the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy, shares an introduction to the NICE Framework. Karen Wetzel, NICE Framework Manager, discusses the updates to the framework. Rodney Petersen, Director of NICE, talks about what these updates mean to cybersecurity education's future.

Resources:

And be sure to check out our live webinar: CISOs are the new Architects (of the Workforce)

Join N2K’s Simone Petrella and Intuit’s Kim Jones on Wednesday, March 27th for an online discussion about the pivotal role security leaders play in shaping the security workforce landscape, and how we can start showing up for the future of our industry. Learn more and register on the event page.