"You can't expect to have the best and brightest if you're only recruiting from 50% of the population. You have to recruit from 100% of the population and if you don't, you're not going to get the best and brightest," said CyberWarrior COO Jonathan Edwards. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) awarded CyberWarrior a grant to develop cyber workforce training for underserved populations.

The 2021 Cybersecurity Workforce Study from (ICS)² revealed global and national trends in the cybersecurity profession, with 700,000 professionals joining the industry since 2020.

On a mission to empower a more secure, interconnected world, the National Cyber Security Alliance has partnered with cybersecurity organizations to launch a resource initiative aimed at raising diversity and closing the cybersecurity talent gap.

As the light at the end of the tunnel becomes brighter, rethinking the hiring and onboarding process for security talent can be the difference between recovering out-of-work employees, getting them up to speed, and enduring unnecessary difficulties.

What the COVID-19 crisis is ultimately doing to the cybersecurity industry is shining a spotlight on the cybersecurity talent shortage. What is one of the only benefits of the critical issue, it's that it has allowed many in Northern Virginia to elevate and extend a slew of innovative measures that companies and region are implementing to combat the problem. As they set out to solve the industry talent shortage, Northern Virginia found the following strategies to be impactful steps in tandem toward a solution.

A fiction book series focused on STEM/STEAM learning with a female teen protagonist, aims to encourage young readers’ interest in technical careers.

For years, security leaders have been talking about the cybersecurity skills shortage.

President Trump signed an Executive Order directing the federal government to take critical steps to strengthen America’s cybersecurity workforce. 

To encourage more women to join the industry, (ISC)² and the Center for Cyber Safety and Education are offering scholarships to women pursuing degrees in the field of cybersecurity.