Dive Brief:

• The Aspen Institute has formed a new cybersecurity panel to address online vulnerabilities faced by business and government, Axios reports. Tri-chairs of the initiative are IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, Congressman Will Hurd (R-Texas) and Lisa Monaco, Homeland Security Advisor under Barack Obama.
• One particular point of emphasis is cyber job training. Hurd told Axios that over 10,000 government IT jobs are currently unfilled, chalking the problem up to candidates not having the right skillset.
• The Aspen Cyber Strategy Group will meet periodically to develop topics for investigation and present reports from sub-groups on select issues. Currently, there are 35 members with backgrounds in academics, government and the private sector.

Dive Insight:

A recent survey found 70% of businesses believe the cybersecurity skills gap will impact them; 62% believe they are not providing sufficient training in the field. Another report shows 70% of employees do not know how to prevent a cyber-attack, even though 39% of business data breaches start internally. It’s estimated there will be 1.8 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs in the U.S. by 2022. Fortunately, a majority of IT professionals report they are interested in the field.

Companies are looking to upskill existing employees, turning to boot-camp style immersion training as well as new grads to meet their cybersecurity needs. Recruiters are looking at digital badges that verify employee and candidate credentialing in a range of IT disciplines, including cybersecurity. Businesses large and small are aware of the threat. The panel hopes to offer real-world solutions to train and prepare for a cyber-attack.