October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month — and experts say the country faces a massive shortage of people trained to fight cyberattacks. Susanne Potter with California News Service has more. Cyber fraud directed at government agencies rose 40 percent between March and May of this year compared to the first three months of 2023. Tony Coulson, who heads the Cybersecurity Center at Cal State San Bernardino, says the U.S. cybersecurity workforce is short about 660-thousand people. At Cal Stat San Bernardino, students learn how to anticipate and defend against cyberattacks and can choose from six undergraduate degrees with cyber components. The National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security have designated the program as a Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity for Cyber Defense. Tomas Gomez-Arias is dean of the Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration, which is home to the cybersecurity program. He says the diversity at CSUSB — where two-thirds of students are Latinx — gives graduates an edge. The federal government offers a program called Scholarships for Service, where students get two years of free tuition plus living expenses — in exchange for a commitment to work for two years at a government agency.
The country faces a massive shortage of people trained to fight cyberattacks
