High cyber staff turnover rate is good for government, DARPA chief says

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

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.

[...]


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