'Imperative To Address This Critical Gap': Troy Carter Sounds Alarm On Cyber Security Shortages

2 months ago

During a House Homeland Security Committee hearing prior to the Congressional recess, Rep. Troy Carter (D-LA) questioned witnesses about policy efficacy and workforce shortages in cyber security.

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00:00I now recognize a gentleman from Louisiana, a member of the Subcommittee on Cyber, Mr.

00:05Carter.

00:06Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:07Thanks, Bob.

00:08We've seen a significant shortage in trained personnel.

00:22Given this, it's clear that none of our protective systems, whether standards, technologies,

00:26or regulations, can be effective without well-trained workforce.

00:32Isn't it imperative to address this critical gap, and can you tell us measures that you're

00:35taking, particularly with HBCUs across the country, junior colleges, and community colleges

00:43that have a plethora of individuals that may or may not be aware of the opportunities in

00:51cyberspace?

00:52Mr. Hazen?

00:55Thank you, Congressman.

00:56We are actively focused both on training and developing our existing workforce, as well

01:02as building and strengthening partnerships with academic institutions, including HBCUs.

01:09We also know that it starts earlier than entering college, that we are, through CISA, building

01:16partnerships to support K-12 curricula for cyber education across the country, and have

01:22trained thousands of educators this year to date there as well.

01:28As we are partnering with academic institutions, we've been focused on expanding our entry-level

01:36pathways, knowing that it is more important to bring in talent that is committed to growing

01:43and learning, and then building out robust training programs through the IT Academy that

01:48we are establishing at DHS to rotate entry-level talent throughout the department, give them

01:53those experiences and new skills to help them become productive members of our workforce.

02:00Thank you.

02:01If everyone could just hit it real quickly, we've got a little bit of time, but I'd like

02:02to just hear, if you have something to add there, that's fine, if you don't.

02:09So, ONCD is working on increasing the number of HBCU to get the designation for National

02:16Cyber Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Security.

02:20So we're doing that in partnership with the White House initiative on HBCUs.

02:24So what we're doing is we're trying to share some of the information with the HBCU administrators

02:30so that they know how to kind of get the designation.

02:33Do we actively have recruiting and job fairs on college campuses across the country to

02:39encourage young people?

02:40A hundred years ago, when I was in undergraduate school, I remember there was always some type

02:45of job fair going on, whether it was the FBI or whatever, different agencies would

02:52come in and meet with juniors and seniors to encourage them to potentially.

02:58We absolutely do, and I will absolutely defer to my colleagues here on some of the examples

03:02of what we are doing, but the key here is that most people, when they see the word cyber,

03:07they just don't see themselves doing those jobs, right?

03:11But it's weird because our children, I know my kids, can put a computer together and take

03:16it apart and do all kinds of programming, but somehow that still has a little bit of

03:25fear associated with it.

03:26But we know that kids are super bright, particularly when it comes to technology.

03:31Which is why it's even more important to, you know, a hearing like today elevates the

03:36cyber career and jobs, right?

03:38So I think it's up to all of us to be able to go to each and every single individual,

03:43even talk to some of the parents about this type of opportunities for them.

03:48Ms. Beavers, how are candidates for state and local offices utilizing AI tools to enhance

03:55their campaigns, despite concerns from experts and lawmakers about potential generative A1

04:02acts on elections, and equally as important, is how are we combating against the nefarious

04:09actors who are using AI to portray something that isn't real in the way of someone's likeness

04:16or voice?

04:17Congressman, I'd like to defer to my distinguished colleague.

04:22I'm happy to take that, sir.

04:25So, Congressman, I agree with your concerns on generative AI in elections.

04:29It's an area that CISA is working on actively with state and local election administrators.

04:35We need to better train our election administrators on how to reach out to their electorates.

04:43We provide no-cost training to thousands of state and local election administrators across

04:48the country.

04:49Overall, generative AI today I look at as a problem of scale.

04:55Video and voice impersonation was possible before generative AI.

05:00It is just easier and faster with the tools that are available.

05:03One of the areas that I think is particularly promising is looking at content authenticity

05:08and making sure that as government officials, as candidates, we can label the information

05:13we are putting out as authentic to make sure that it's more difficult to impersonate.

05:19Thank you.

05:20My time has expired.

05:21Thank you, sir.

05:22The gentleman yields back.

05:23I now recognize the gentleman from

'Imperative To Address This Critical Gap': Troy Carter Sounds Alarm On Cyber Security Shortages

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