http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20120321_8208.php By Aliya Sternstein Nextgov 03/21/2012 The Pentagon can vie with industry for cybersecurity researchers by letting the scientists return to the private sector after a few years in government, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency chief said in a novel suggestion for retaining talent from a narrow pool. Contractors and agencies are seemingly desperate for reformed hackers, academics and other computer security whizzes to defend government networks from constantly morphing threats. Typically, the private sector lures computer scientists by paying a premium and letting them tinker with new gadgets and gizmos. The National Security Agency, the military's cyberespionage force, wants more liberty to offer salary increases and promotions for retention. DARPA, meanwhile, says its own workforce is rebooted every three to five years to keep up with technological advances. "The shelf life of cyber capabilities is short. We might even posit that the shelf life of cyber skills is relativity short," DARPA acting Director Kaigham J. Gabriel told lawmakers late Tuesday afternoon. The Defense Department may want to preserve a core of professionals, "but in fact perhaps we should just plan on building a model where there will be a significant refresh of folks." He also offered the somewhat paradoxical advice of dropping education requirements for researcher job eligibility. "This is a community where the traditional metrics of master's degree or a Ph.D. may not be as important," Gabriel said at a Senate Armed Services Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee hearing. Many of DARPA's cybersecurity program managers do not have doctorates, he said. [...] ______________________________________________________________________________ CISSP and CEH training with Expanding Security is the fastest, easiest way to grock the relevant data you need now. A free class invite is in every PainPill. Sign up for the free weekly PainPill . It's that easy. http://www.expandingsecurity.com/PainPillReceived on Thu Mar 22 2012 - 02:54:56 PDT
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