Dark Reading is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them.Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Database Security
Authentication
Mobile
Privacy
Compliance
Careers and People
Identity & Access Management
Security Monitoring
Advanced Threats
Insider Threats
Vulnerability Management
Comments
How Diversity Can Bridge The Talent Gap
Newest First  |  Oldest First  |  Threaded View
Page 1 / 2   >   >>
Joe Stanganelli
50%
50%
Joe Stanganelli,
 User Rank: Ninja
8/31/2016 | 9:22:15 PM
Re: Additional exacerbation
@Dr.T: So what is your company like in that respect?  What is the process for drafting a job description and job requirements for postings?
Kelly Jackson Higgins
50%
50%
Kelly Jackson Higgins,
 User Rank: Strategist
8/31/2016 | 12:31:13 PM
Re: By the way...
To clarify, DiGiovanni's findings are for his training effort--to tap those inherent skillsets for trainees, who obviously get the hands-on hacking training via the DoD program.
GonzSTL
50%
50%
GonzSTL,
 User Rank: Ninja
8/31/2016 | 12:28:49 PM
Re: By the way...

Although I agree that STEM skills are just part of qualifiers, the notion that STEM is not one of the top skills should not be a universal principle. I can see how the DoD would feel that way, since that is a very large organization. Smaller outfits though do not have the luxury of hiring many people for their InfoSec (or just IT period) teams. These organizations are the ones who will look at IT skills first, and then soft skills, during their hiring process. This is why encouragement at a young age and mentoring really is critical in expanding the IT workforce to include women and minorities.

Kelly Jackson Higgins
50%
50%
Kelly Jackson Higgins,
 User Rank: Strategist
8/31/2016 | 12:16:03 PM
Re: By the way...
I disagree, @InReality01. Diversity brings more perspective, insight, and a broader range of skills. When you have people of different backgrounds, socioeconomic roots, and life experiences, you have a more balanced and insightful organization. I agree that hires must be qualified--no one is saying otherwise--but sometimes there are skills that employers aren't considering that are extremely valuable. 

Here's a good example of how skills are more than STEM: a DoD official, Frank DiGiovanni, director of force training in DoD's Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness, has been researching what makes a great white-hat hacker. He has been interviewing folks at DEF CON the past two years.

From a recent Dark Reading article on his efforts:

The big takeaway from DiGiovanni's DEF CON research: STEM, aka science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, was not one of the top skills organizations look for in their cyber-Jedis. "Almost no one talked about technical capabilities or technical chops," he says. "That was the biggest revelation for me."

http://www.darkreading.com/threat-intelligence/dod-taps-def-con-hacker-traits-for-cybersecurity-training-program/d/d-id/1326763?

When you open up jobs to these broader skillsets, you're more likely to get a more diverse pool of applicants.

Of course, there's also the issue of educating and encouraging women and people of color that this industry is wide open and full of opportunity.

 
Dr.T
50%
50%
Dr.T,
 User Rank: Ninja
8/31/2016 | 12:09:27 PM
Re: By the way...
"... There is nothing inheirently "good" about diversity in the workforce based on gender, race or ethnicity. ..."

I hear you, the way I look at it, having different genders will lead to different view points, when you leave women out in IT, you do not get their perspective with the remaining skills in your workforce.
Kelly Jackson Higgins
50%
50%
Kelly Jackson Higgins,
 User Rank: Strategist
8/31/2016 | 12:07:17 PM
Re: Additional exacerbation
I hear ya, @MistyMorn. That first bar is the big issue in this industry. Have you thought of joining some local cybersecurity meetups? That is one way to meet, network, and get connected with local security events, hackathons, etc. 
Dr.T
50%
50%
Dr.T,
 User Rank: Ninja
8/31/2016 | 12:04:43 PM
Re: The phantom issue in security...
"... women don't go into technical fields at nearly the same rate as men do. ..."

That is a good point, I was just mentioning this in my other post.  When we post a position, we normally do not get any female applicants.
Dr.T
50%
50%
Dr.T,
 User Rank: Ninja
8/31/2016 | 12:03:02 PM
Hiring more women
 

"... Hiring more women and minorities ..."

There is another issue here, when we post a IT position we do not get any female applicants, I am not sure if this is the same for all others but, the other end of this letting female students having interest in IT.

 
Dr.T
50%
50%
Dr.T,
 User Rank: Ninja
8/31/2016 | 12:01:37 PM
Re: Additional exacerbation
"... Entry level should be an on the job training position but I still struggle with being underqualified due to my lack of enterprise IT experience. ..."

This is really a good point. IT is a fast pace sector, there is no day that you do not learn new things, it requires life-long learning strategy.

 
Dr.T
50%
50%
Dr.T,
 User Rank: Ninja
8/31/2016 | 11:58:48 AM
Re: Additional exacerbation
"... It is my personal goal to spread STEM awareness in young kids, especially girls. ..."

This is great to hear. Thank you for doing it. I would assume female studens now realize that technology is not something they need to avoid but embrace, since everything and everting else involves it any more.
Page 1 / 2   >   >>


NSA Appoints Rob Joyce as Cyber Director
Dark Reading Staff 1/15/2021
Register for Dark Reading Newsletters
White Papers
Video
Cartoon Contest
Write a Caption, Win an Amazon Gift Card! Click Here
Latest Comment: STOP LOOKING IN HERE FOR YOUR PASSWORD!!!
Current Issue
2020: The Year in Security
Download this Tech Digest for a look at the biggest security stories that - so far - have shaped a very strange and stressful year.
Flash Poll
Assessing Cybersecurity Risk in Today's Enterprises
Assessing Cybersecurity Risk in Today's Enterprises
COVID-19 has created a new IT paradigm in the enterprise -- and a new level of cybersecurity risk. This report offers a look at how enterprises are assessing and managing cyber-risk under the new normal.
Twitter Feed
Dark Reading - Bug Report
Bug Report
Enterprise Vulnerabilities
From DHS/US-CERT's National Vulnerability Database
CVE-2020-28488
PUBLISHED: 2021-01-22
This affects all versions of package jquery-ui; all versions of package org.fujion.webjars:jquery-ui. When the "dialog" is injected into an HTML tag more than once, the browser and the application may crash.
CVE-2021-22847
PUBLISHED: 2021-01-22
Hyweb HyCMS-J1's API fail to filter POST request parameters. Remote attackers can inject SQL syntax and execute commands without privilege.
CVE-2021-22849
PUBLISHED: 2021-01-22
Hyweb HyCMS-J1 backend editing function does not filter special characters. Users after log-in can inject JavaScript syntax to perform a stored XSS (Stored Cross-site scripting) attack.
CVE-2020-8567
PUBLISHED: 2021-01-21
Kubernetes Secrets Store CSI Driver Vault Plugin prior to v0.0.6, Azure Plugin prior to v0.0.10, and GCP Plugin prior to v0.2.0 allow an attacker who can create specially-crafted SecretProviderClass objects to write to arbitrary file paths on the host filesystem, including /var/lib/kubelet/pods.
CVE-2020-8568
PUBLISHED: 2021-01-21
Kubernetes Secrets Store CSI Driver versions v0.0.15 and v0.0.16 allow an attacker who can modify a SecretProviderClassPodStatus/Status resource the ability to write content to the host filesystem and sync file contents to Kubernetes Secrets. This includes paths under var/lib/kubelet/pods that conta...