Cybersecurity Workforce Development: A Public/Private Partnership That Enhances Cybersecurity While Giving Hands-On SOC Experience to Students
The expanding threat landscape has evolved for state and local government entities as well as higher education institutes. Mary Lou Prevost, group vice president of U.S., State, Local Government and Education at Splunk, and Bruce Johnson, senior director, enterprise security at TekStream, highlighted the critical role of student involvement in cybersecurity initiatives, which not only enhance the institutions’ cybersecurity capabilities but also provide hands-on experience to the students.
“It’s a mistake to assume that state and higher-educated education entities are monolithic,” Johnson said. Both these sectors share many vulnerabilities and have similar challenges in boosting defense - including hiring and retaining a skilled workforce. “They don’t have this elaborate budget to hire all the people that they would like to hire. So as soon as they have invested a year or three into an individual, they are plucked off by the private sector because they can pay more,” Prevost said.
In this video interview with Information Security Media Group at RSA Conference 2024, Prevost and Johnson also discussed:
- Unique cybersecurity challenges faced by different educational institutions;
- How a student-powered SOC at LSU has improved detection and response – and alleviated workforce challenges – in a program that uses student talent in operational security roles who collaborate with technology providers and state and local governments;
- How a shared SOC model can scale.
