CISA issues cyber training guide for federal employees
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on Thursday published a new training guide to help federal employees improve their cybersecurity skills and create a cyber-focused career plan.
The new document includes clear career pathways for staff within agencies such as CISA to follow. It is intended also to codify new points of entry into government cybersecurity, including through internships.
Commenting on the launch of the guidance at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas, CISA Director Jen Easterly said it would help with identifying “no-cost opportunities that fit [employees’] professional development schedule.”
The publication of the guide comes amid a push to fast-track new cyber talent into government and follows calls for greater flexibility over hiring rules to allow new staff to be brought into agencies more quicky.
In particular, the White House is focused on bringing in new talent through more direct authority hiring and by establishing partnerships with colleges and universities.
CISA is also providing grants for nonprofits focused on identifying and developing unrealized cybersecurity talent within underserved communities, in a bid to increase workforce diversity.
It follows an executive order signed last month by the Biden administration that mandates agencies to adopt new measures to increase equity and diversity within the workforce.
“I believe we need to do everything we can to ensure our cyber workforce reflects the diversity of America because diversity of gender, ethnicity, education, sexual orientation, neurodiversity – all of that translates into diversity of thought and enables better problem-solving,” said Easterly.
