Trendlines

Training Is Key to Cybersecurity Laws

If new federal cybersecurity legislation is passed in September or October, here’s what you can look for in the future:

>> The Commerce secretary working with the White House Office of Personnel Management to train and certify government cyber professionals.

>> Each federal department head being directed to develop an annual workforce plan that includes hiring projections, short and long-term planning to address skill deficiencies, recruitment strategies and an analysis of barriers to recruitment.

>> The National Institute of Standards and Technology conducting competitions and challenges to woo students into cybersecurity careers.

>> Agencies measuring and collecting information on cybersecurity hiring effectiveness.

One of the bill’s most contentious provisions, which high-tech policy watchers argued would give the White House the power to effectively turn off the Internet during a cyber crisis, has been substantially curtailed.

The section would have allowed the president in a cyber emergency to “order the limitation or shutdown of Internet traffic” to and from any compromised government or U.S. critical infrastructure information system or network.

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