The good news is that the cybersecurity industry is in a dynamic expansion mode and creating well-paying jobs at furious clip.
The not-quite-as-good news is that it’s hard to find properly-trained workers to fill these technically demanding positions.
That’s why one locally-based corporation is acting aggressively to train the budding industry’s workforce. Annapolis-based TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) has expanded to a new, 36,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art technology center in Baltimore Commons Business Park in Hanover that will house what is known as Art of Exploitation (AoE) University, a managed services operations center, and an east coast lab and data center.
Christian Johansson of the Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development, Maurice Tosé of TeleCommunication Systems (TCS), Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger and Bob Hannon of the Anne Arundel Economic Development Corp. celebrate the opening of the new TCS location in Hanover.
In doing so, TCS is hoping to train up to 4,000 commercial and government attendees annually with instructor-led, hands-on training in the arts of computer exploitation and defense, cryptology, penetration testing, reverse engineering and information assurance.
TCS is offering “a great opportunity for Maryland in terms of job growth and economic activity,” said Robert Walker, assistant secretary with the Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development, noting the mammoth local presence of the National Security Agency (NSA), the U.S. Cyber Command and DISA at Fort Meade; and other regional concerns like C4 ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) at Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) and the National Geospatial Center in Bethesda, plus the area’s academic community.
The volume of intellectual capital in the area is resulting in “great partnerships between the feds, universities and the private sector,” said Walker. “With all of these great assets in the state, plus private sector opportunities” like those afforded by contractors like TCS, “Marylanders can easily obtain the skills needed to work [in the cyberindustry].”
Dropping the Anchor
The impetus for TCS to open the Hanover office was two-fold: One reason was the growth that resulted from the corporation’s acquisition of Solvern Innovations, which was a cyberwarfare support concern that offered training, in November 2009.
“As we grew, the vision with them was to be the preeminent provider of training and support,” said Drew Morin, senior vice president and chief technology officer for TCS. “We had offered two roving training classrooms that we set up in hotels. Now we can offer that capability via an anchored facility near BWI [Thurgood] Marshall [Airport] where we can train 4,000 people per year, with an average of three weeks of full-day training” at AoE that features a series of classes, including Wiretap and Bootcamp.
The other reason is more obvious. “The cyberthreat has increasingly been recognized, because it’s continual,” said Morin.
“Think of the Cold War,” he said. “The last thing you wanted to do was use your weapons. But with the Cyber War, the weapons are going off daily, and they’re not just institutional. An attack can come from a foreign government or some misguided hacker.”
Unfortunately, there is money to be made by some of these folks. “Why would someone want to hack into a banking system?” Morin queried. “So they can get information, thus access to money.”
Local Concerns
While there are many professionals training and retraining in the cyber field, keeping jobs filled looks like it will be a fight in itself. “I don’t think we’ll have enough [workers],” said Morin, who noted that TCS is working on a partnership with Anne Arundel Community College (AACC) so credits earned at AoE will count toward the college’s degree programs.
However, the president of AACC, Marti Smith, recently voiced her fears about Anne Arundel County cutting the college’s budget by about $5.2 million (from $33.8 million to $28.6 million) because it might harm its efforts to train that very cyber workforce.
Mark Powell, CEO of Argo Systems, also in Hanover, is a member of the AACC Foundation Board — which is assisting the college in building a cyber center. He feels that companies like TCS are making great strides toward strengthening the area’s workforce.
“The leadership of TCS has always created a vision that has provided the company with success for more than two decades,” said Powell, noting its progress from a small 8a company to a $350 million international concern.
“They serve as a bellwether for our local economy in a constant pursuit of innovation and world-class delivery of services. They are a true success story,” he said. “One of the critical challenges right now in cyber is the development of a capable workforce, and what TCS is doing will go a long way in supporting our national mission of ensuring cybersecurity.”
As for Smith’s concerns, Powell said, “I wish our community had a greater commitment to AACC at this critical time.”
Read All About It
The University System of Maryland (USM) just released its cyber report (see the Baltimore Washington Corridor Chamber Corner, page 18) that also will contribute toward designing the template for the state’s approach to cyber.
“Given the huge demand for individuals who have education and training in cyber-related areas,” said P.J. Hogan, a spokesman for USM, “we inventoried USM institutions and what they’re offering from an educational and research standpoint, to see what we can bring to bear in terms of providing what’s needed.”
As it turns out, the 11 universities under the USM umbrella are rich in cyber offerings, with 53 bachelor’s degrees, 33 master’s programs, nine doctoral offerings and 13 post-baccalaureate certificates between them.
“What we found is that we have more programs than the outside observer might have thought,” Hogan said.
And there’s more to come, with a new angle. “We’ll add more to expanded cross-disciplinary degrees, like accounting, with a minor in cybersecurity,” he said, “and there will be more programs developed concerning policy of cybersecurity, as well.”
Hogan said that USM is also setting up a task force to determine the types of skill sets are needed for a Ph.D. in mathematics or an accountant who deal with sensitive information, for instance.
“They need to understand it,” he said. “So what you will see much more of is cross-disciplinary education. [They] will be more marketable if they also have a good understanding of cyber-related issues.”
Ellen Hemmerly is executive director at bwtech@UMBC Research and Technology Park, where courses at UMBC combine with such programs as CyberIncubator@bwtech, the NGC Cync Program, CyberHive and CyberMap to boost the educational effort. She took Hogan’s observation a step further.
“The demand is still greater than the supply, but programs like those at UMBC and TCS are great ways to try to fill the gap,” said Hemmerley. “I think what we really need to do is promote Maryland to the business community as a great place to have a career.
“We need to be not only producing students who are clearable,” she said, “but keeping those students in Maryland.”
Looking Out for No. 1
While USM is offering its new report, it turns out that an earlier volume might have had an influence on TCS opting to enhance its educational offerings.
“Gov. O’Malley’s Cyber Report was released right after his second election and underscored the possibilities for this area,” said Walker. “That was the first effort to assess our various state assets and resources and identify the areas in which we should move.
Walker added that the focus of Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin “can’t be overlooked” for their focus on the national front and that they are both members of intelligence committees and well understand cyber’s importance.
“What TCS has done is recognize their great opportunity,” said Walker, “and exercise its vision to move forward with its initiative and take advantage of this strength.”
That’s especially important in the cyberworld, he said.
“As Sen. Mikulski likes to say,” Walker said, “this is one area in which you do not, as a country, want to be No. 2.”
