DEF CON 29 ICS Village - John Ellis, Julia Atkinson - Attract, Develop, & Retain ICS Workforce

Gaps in the industrial cybersecurity workforce leave critical infrastructure assets vulnerable to attack. In a 2020 ICS2 report, 64% of companies reported a significant or slight shortage of cybersecurity professionals. At the same time, 56% of companies reported that their organization is extremely or moderately at risk due to the cyber workforce shortage. A National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) report found that industry-wide there was only one qualified worker to fill every 10 cybersecurity jobs in 2020. To protect the cyber-physical systems that form the lifeblood of the economy, something needs to be done to develop the ICS/OT cybersecurity workforce pipeline. This session will present models to attract, develop, and retain talent in industrial cybersecurity.