[ISN] Want a security pro? For starters, get politically incorrect and understand geek culture

https://www.networkworld.com/news/2012/102912-schwartau-263776.html

By Ellen Messmer
Network World
October 29, 2012

MIAMI -- While complaints can be heard far and wide that it's hard to 
find the right IT security experts to defend the nation's cyberspace, 
the real problem in hiring security professionals is the roadblocks put 
up by lawyers and human resources personnel and a complete lack of 
understanding of geek culture, says security consultant Winn Schwartau.

Take Janet Napolitano, U.S. secretary of the Department of Homeland 
Security, who has said the country can't find the right people for 
network defense. The real problem is a misunderstanding of computer 
geeks, their personalities, habits and their backgrounds, said Schwartau 
today during his talk at the Hacker Halted information security 
conference here.

Computer geeks are discriminated against under hiring rules and legal 
niceties that often categorize them as undesirables. "We do not fit the 
mold. We at the outer limits of normal," Schwartau said.

According to Schwartau, there's a gauntlet of hiring obstacles today 
that actually work to discriminate against computer geeks who have the 
expertise to do the job of protecting government networks. Demands for 
college degrees and IT certifications and the ability to get IT security 
clearances should not be a priority in hiring, said Schwartau. "Forget 
education," he said, adding, "We need to re-design clearances -- they're 
a Cold War relic designed for nuclear secrets and 1950s crypto." The era 
of 9-to-5 is also over, he added.

He said what's holding up hiring IT security professionals can be found 
in the thinking of human resources departments that frown on conditions 
such as attention deficit disorder and autism, or obsessive-compulsive 
personalities which are typical of computer geeks willing to focus on an 
issue through the night. And although hiring rules in place tend to go 
the extra mile to accept alcoholism, the slightest type of illegal drug 
infraction makes it tough for job applicants. "We've got to start 
getting politically incorrect if we want to get the job done," said 
Schwartau.

[...]


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