COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE FOR SMALL-TO-MEDIUM TECHNOLOGY FOCUSED DEFENSE CONTRACTORS – PART 2
By Victoria Loewengart
Victoria Loewengart is an information technology consultant
The federal government reached out to industry with multiple billions of dollars available for implementing a strong cyber security infrastructure.(22.) The money is there, but there is a severe shortage of expertise in these areas.(23.) .There are about 1,000 security people in the US who have the specialized security skills to operate effectively in cyberspace. We need 10,000 to 30,000, asserted Jim Gosler, Sandia Fellow, NSA Visiting Scientist, and the founding Director of the CIA‘s Clandestine Information Technology Office .24
SM defense contracting firms will do well to add a cybersecurity product line and hire or train their people in cybersecurity disciplines. Large organizations such as CACI and Northrop
Grumman are already adding cyber security expertise to their skill pools.(25.) Some of these disciplines include:
25. “A Human Capital Crisis in Cybersecurity.” ClearanceJobs.com. August 3, 2010.
http://www.clearancejobs.com/defense-news/152/a-human-capital-crisis-in-cybersecurity (accessed August 9, 2010).
26. “A Human Capital Crisis in Cybersecurity.” ClearanceJobs.com. August 3, 2010.
http://www.clearancejobs.com/defense-news/152/a-human-capital-crisis-in-cybersecurity (accessed August 9, 2010) and NorthropGrumman. http://www.northropgrumman.com/(accessed August 10, 2010)
27. Black Hat USA 2010. http://www.blackhat.com/html/bh-us-10/bh-us-10-home.html (accessed August 10, 2010)
28. Chapman, Glenn. “Internet warriors hone skills at Black Hat – DefCon.” Yahoo! News. July 26, 2010.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100726/ts_alt_afp/usitinternetsoftwarecrimehackerblackhatdefcon;_ylt=AmNTJoLspJ6Km3_R91LnpTyWwvIE;_ylu=X3oDMTQza2t2Y290BGFzc2V0A2FmcC8yMDEwMDcyNi91c2l0aW50ZXJuZXRzb2Z0d2FyZWNyaW1laGFja2VyYmxhY2toYXRkZWZjb24EY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcH (accessed August 2, 2010) and Black
Hat USA 2010. http://www.blackhat.com/html/bh-us-10/bh-us-10-home.html (accessed August 10, 2010)
1. Biometric Engineers
2. Computer Forensics
3. Defense Network Watch Officers
4. Intelligence Analysts (cyber focus)
5. Malicious code analysts
6. Reverse engineers
7. Security Analysts
8. Threat Analysts26
Where to find this talent? At hacker conventions, of course, such as Black Hat and DefCon.27 “Black Hat is a place where security researchers go to show off their work and get peer feedback,” said Jeff Moss, the founder of both gatherings.28
IT-focused defense contractors should attend events like these to learn what is new on the hacking front, and then develop protection systems, as well as recruit the new rain-makers for their organizations and make contacts with the potential buyers – government officials who show up at these events. The Black Hat convention has new tracks focused on cyber war, government technology policy, and organized crime.(29.)
29. Ibid
30. Priest, Dana and William Arkin, “Top Secret America: National Security Inc.” The Washington Post. July 20, 2010.
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/articles/national-security-inc/(accessed July 30, 2010)
31. Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/CFO. Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Request. Overview, United States Department of Defense, 2010 : 4-2
http://comptroller.defense.gov/defbudget/fy2011/FY2011_Budget_Request_Overview_Book.pdf. (accessed August 12, 2010)
Although cybersecurity and streamlining of intelligence distribution are high priority challenges for the defense industry, the top priorities are the innovative war-fighting systems that are designed to ensure the minimal loss of life of American warriors. “You have to foot-stomp hard that this is a war-fighting system that’s helping save people’s lives every day,” Kevin P. Meiners, a deputy undersecretary for intelligence, declared at the U.S. Special