Members of Congress are sounding the alarm on the shortage of cybersecurity and IT workers across the United States, with lawmakers noting that there are over 500,000 open cyber positions.
During a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on June 26, Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., on behalf of the absent Chairman Mark E. Green, R-Tenn., underscored the bipartisan concern about the need to address the cybersecurity workforce gap.
“Experts predict that by the end of 2024, a cyberattack will strike every 13 seconds. That’s 6,822 attacks a day, or about 2 million by the end of the year,” stated Rep. Green in his opening statement.
“It is alarming, then, that our nation is suffering from such a massive cyber workforce gap. We currently need at least 500,000 cyber professionals if we hope to protect and defend our way of life,” added Rep. Green. “Now, that’s not just any 500,000 people – we need 500,000 skilled, talented cyber workers dedicated to contending with the threats of today while preparing for the threats of tomorrow.”
The abundant need for more cybersecurity workers comes as emerging technologies such as AI have made the barrier to entry for cybercriminals to attack critical infrastructure across the United States very low.
“Earlier this Congress, [the] committee passed Representative Jackson Lee’s legislation authorizing ceaseless effort to provide cybersecurity training to [Department of Homeland Security] employees,” said Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill.
“I really hope that we can work together to secure passage of Representative Jackson’s important bill by the full House this Congress. And while these legislative efforts have been helpful, we also know that there’s still a lot of work to be done,” she added.
The hearing comes one day after the White House Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) released a report on the progress of its National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy (NCWES). ONCD issued the strategy nearly one year ago to bolster the nation’s cyber workforce.
“This is the kind of leadership from the White House that is critical to ensuring that we have coordinated and we have a whole of government and whole of nation effort,” said Rep. Ramirez.
Rep. Garbarino concluded the hearing by noting that Chairman Green will be submitting legislation “soon” to address the cyber workforce shortage.
