From: Nextgov

By Brittany Ballenstedt

The time is not yet ripe to begin introducing professionalization standards into the rapidly changing and diverse field of cybersecurity, particularly given the staffing shortages that already exist in the field, according to a new report by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences.

The report, “Professionalizing the Nation’s Cybersecurity Workforce? Criteria for Decision-Making,” released Wednesday, concluded that while the field of cybersecurity requires specialized knowledge and intensive advanced training, it is still too young and diverse a discipline to introduce professionalization standards.

“One of the things that gave us pause was that when an occupation professionalizes, it erects barriers to entry,” said Dr. Ronald Sanders, a vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton and one of eight members of the committee producing the report. “On one hand, it improves the quality of people who enter the profession, but it also discourages some people from entering the field. At a time when the field is evolving and supply has not kept pace with demand, to professionalize the entire field would likely be counterproductive.”

Specifically, the report, which was sponsored by the Homeland Security Department, noted that the diversity of jobs in the cybersecurity field requires a careful analysis of whether and how professionalization should be implemented, taking into account the responsibilities and context of a particular job.

In addition, the certifications and other requirements that come with professionalization status may provide useful tools for vetting job candidates, but overreliance on these standards may screen out some of the most skilled experts, particularly the “self-taught hackers,” the report states.

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