The cyber path

Prefixing ‘cyber’ to a word is so prevalent these days that it often loses its meaning. However, for those seeking information on the knowledge, skills, and abilities for ‘cyber’ related jobs and careers, the Cyber Career Pathways Tool is a good resource.

I belong to the generation that remembers when the word ‘cyber’, outside of a science fiction context, elicited laughter from the information/infrastructure security community. The pendulum has definitely swung in the opposite direction these days!

The challenge now is that the prefix is so overused that two people using the same word will not have a common understanding of what that word means. This issue is particularly challenging when it comes to describing the knowledge, skills and abilities needed for the jobs that are critical to building, securing, operating, defending and protecting the technology, data, and resources of our real world!

This is where the Cyber Career Pathways Tool can help.

This interactive tool depicts the cyber workforce as five skill communities: IT, Cybersecurity, Cyber Effects, Intel (Cyber), and Cross Functional. It also defines 52 specific work roles that map to the skill communities.

I am currently exploring this tool as the parent of a university student. As parents everywhere know, a university student has a lot of questions about the applicability of their coursework to the “real world”, so showing the applicability of specific foundational knowledge being acquired to potential types of interesting jobs is helpful.

I am also using the tool to do research about the types of extra-curricular opportunities (internships, certifications) that are not provided as part of a university education, so that I can have the conversation about what an employer will be looking from a new graduate.

All in all, a significant, impressive, and useful resource from the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies (NICCS) which is managed by the DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

cyberLinks: random and relevant

• The Canadian Digital Service launches COVID Alert, a free COVID-19 exposure notification app based on the Apple/Google Exposure Notification API for people in Canada. The privacy assessment of the application.

• Virginia is the first US State to launch COVIDWISE, a free COVID-19 exposure notification app based on the Apple/Google Exposure Notification API. The privacy policy can be found here.

• “Why don’t you just”: Why gov doesn’t need tech saviourism (but we do need you). As someone who had to live thru and live with both the positive and not so great aspects of technology saviors “parachuting in”, this article really resonated!

• Kaliya on how OpenID Connect and Decentralized ID systems can work together.