As Cyber Attacks Increase, Private Companies Outbid Government for Cyber-defendersJanuary 07, 2010
After he graduated from Purdue University, Brian Denny spent two years at the National Security Agency identifying security flaws in computer systems. Then Booz Allen Hamilton, a major intelligence contractor, hired him with a 45% pay increase and ended his brief career as a government computer scientist. From there, Denny moved to a small employee-owned firm, where his pay today is even higher. Denny's experience underscores why the government is struggling to fill its vacant cyber-defense posts, according to an article in the Houston Chronicle. "The pay difference is so dramatic now, you can't ignore it," said Denny, chief security architect for Ponte Technologies. The demand for specialists has sparked a bidding war between federal agencies and contractors, especially for skilled technicians with security clearances. Some officials say the specialist scarcity now affects project quality. It even took President Barack Obama seven months to fill the crucial national cyber adviser position. It was not until the end of December that White House officials announced that Howard Schmidt, a former Bush administration official and Microsoft chief security officer, will coordinate efforts to defend against computer network attacks, according to the Chronicle. Security experts say that the number of attacks against government and industrial networks is alarming. The Government Accountability Office told a Senate panel in November that intrusions jumped from 5,500 in 2006 to 16,840 in 2008, according the article. "We know how we can be penetrated,'' said Sen. Benjamin Cardin (R., Md.), chairman of the judiciary subcommittee on terrorism and homeland security. "We don't know how to prevent it effectively.'' A lack of skilled professionals willing to work at government pay rates is only exasperating the crisis. |
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