States at disadvantage in race to recruit cybersecurity pros
CHICAGO — Austin Moody wanted to apply his cybersecurity skills in his home state of Michigan, teaming up with investigators for the State Police to analyze evidence and track down criminals.
But the recent graduate set the idea aside after learning an unpaid internship was his only way into the Michigan agency.
“I don’t know many people that can afford to take an unpaid internship, especially when it’s in such high demand in the private sector,” Moody said of fellow cybersecurity job seekers. “Unpaid internships in cyber aren’t really a thing beyond the public sector.”
Hiring and keeping staff capable of helping fend off a constant stream of cyberattacks and less severe online threats tops the list of concerns for state technology leaders. There’s a severe shortage of those professionals and not enough financial firepower to compete with federal counterparts, global brands and specialized cybersecurity firms.
“People who are still in school are being told, ‘There’s a really good opportunity in cybersecurity, really good opportunities for high pay,’” said Drew Schmitt, a principal threat intelligence analyst with the cybersecurity firm GuidePoint Security. “And ultimately these state and local governments just can’t keep up from a salary perspective with a lot of private organizations.”
State governments are regular targets for cybercriminals, drawn by the troves of personal data within agencies and computer networks that are essential to patrolling highways, maintaining election systems and other key state services. Notable hits since 2019 include the Washington state auditor, Illinois’ attorney general, Georgia’s Department of Public Safety and computer servers supporting much of Louisiana’s state agencies.
Cities, too, come under attack, and they have even fewer resources than states to stand up cyber defenses.
Aided by industry groups, the federal government and individual states have created training programs, competitions and scholarships in hopes of producing more cybersecurity pros nationwide. Those strategies could take years to pay off, however. States have turned to outside contractors, civilian volunteers and National Guard units for help when their systems are taken down by ransomware and other hacks.
States needed to fill nearly 9,000 cybersecurity jobs as of this summer, according to CyberSeek a joint project of the Computing Technology Industry Association and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The total is probably higher because the project doesn’t count job listings that states posted only to their own employment portal.
State leaders are reluctant to detail the number of vacancies, worrying that could further entice potential attackers. States’ top security officials have ranked inadequate cybersecurity staffing among their top concerns every year since the National Association of State Chief Information Officers and Deloitte began surveying the group in 2014.