The attention-grabbing ransomware attack highlights the growing needs of cybersecurity professionals

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The US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that information security analysts will grow 31% between 2019 and 2017, well above the national average for all occupations.

Tyler Ellison
UNK communication

KEARNEY – The ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline and JBS is the latest in a long list of high-profile cybercrimes against US companies.

This time around, mysterious criminals had to temporarily shut down the country’s largest fuel pipeline, threaten the country’s meat supply and pay a total of $ 15.4 million before they could resume normal operations. ..

These attacks, in which criminals take corporate data and computer systems hostage, raise national security concerns. As technology advances, so does the risk to individuals, businesses, school systems, hospitals, infrastructure, and government agencies.

Jack Bow Abd

Jack Bow Abd, Associate Professor at the University of Nebraska Kearney Faculty of Cyber ​​Systems, calls the recent incident “the tip of the iceberg” and points out that most cyberattacks have not been publicly reported.

“We are now realizing how realistic this threat is,” he said.

To stay ahead of hackers and organized crime groups, businesses, organizations and government agencies of all sizes are looking for highly trained professionals who can improve digital security and help protect their assets.

That has created a huge demand for cybersecurity talent.

UNK Professor Liaquat Hossain, Chairman of the Cyber ​​Systems Division, said:

Riyakato Hossein

There is currently a significant shortage of cybersecurity experts both domestically and internationally. A 2020 survey by ISC², a nonprofit that specializes in cybersecurity training and certification, found 359,000 jobless jobs in the US and 3.1 million worldwide.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that information security analysts will grow 31% between 2019 and 2017, well above the national average for all occupations.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, fierce competition for qualified candidates with an average annual salary of $ 103,590 makes these employees among the highest-paid workers in the computer science field.

Youngest graduates can expect to earn $ 65,000 to $ 80,000 annually in Nebraska, according to Hossein, a member of a group focused on growing technical staff in Nebraska.

As a member of the Nebra Skatec Collaboration, Hossein works with employers and university partners to identify and close gaps in the labor market and to build a sustainable talent pipeline in the state.

“There are currently weaknesses in this pipeline. We try to address them by partnering with schools and developing collaborative learning, ”he said.

Hossain and Dean Tim Jares of the UNK College of Business and Technology meet with K-12 school staff to discuss new ways to advance STEM education and increase the number of college graduates interested in cybersecurity and other computer science areas. ..

The university already hosts a weekly summer camp for middle school students who want to learn more about technology and cybersecurity, as well as CoderDojo events that allow young people to explore areas such as computer programming, website development, app and game design. Another potential collaboration is using UNK’s facilities and faculties to get in touch with K-12 schools that do not have qualified STEM or computer science teachers.

The Discovery Hall opened on the UNK campus in autumn 2020. The 90,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art MINT facility houses the university’s cybersystems department and cybersecurity program.

In response to the growing demand from graduates, the UNK Bachelor’s Degree in Cyber ​​Security Operations is based on the Academic Excellence Center for Cyber ​​Defense designated by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security Education and is a hand-on training course that prepares national security students for various cybersecurity positions. Provide. Military and law enforcement for medicine, finance and infrastructure.

The Cyber ​​Security Program and Cyber ​​Systems department is located in the Discovery Hall, a state-of-the-art MINT building that opened in Fall 2020. The faculty is currently designing a new interactive laboratory that will offer students a variety of cybersecurity scenarios.

Bou Abdo wants UNK students to become strategic thinkers of the “big picture”.

“It’s the quality of the people we want to graduate from, and that’s the quality of the people who want companies,” he said.

In addition to expanding the workforce, Hossain is also interested in partnering with private companies to develop cybersecurity training and certification programs for current employees.

“It must be a joint effort,” he said. “To solve this problem, we need a public-private partnership and a community-based partnership.”

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The attention-grabbing ransomware attack underscores the growing needs of cybersecurity professionals

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