NIST Allocates Nearly $3.6 Million to Bolster Cybersecurity Workforce

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded cooperative agreements totaling almost $3.6 million to address the critical shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals in the United States.

On April 3, NIST, an agency of the Department of Commerce, announced grants of approximately $200,000 each to 18 education and community-focused organizations across 15 states. These grants aim to build a workforce capable of safeguarding businesses against cybersecurity risks.

The cooperative agreements will be overseen by the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE), a partnership between government, academia, and private entities.

Laurie E. Locascio, NIST's director, emphasized the importance of this investment in filling a crucial gap in the cybersecurity workforce. She stated, "Our economic and national security depend on a highly skilled workforce capable of defending against ever-increasing cyber threats."

According to the U.S. CyberSeek tool, which analyzes cybersecurity job market data, there have been approximately 450,000 cybersecurity job openings in the past year. However, NIST noted that there were only 82 workers available to fill every 100 cybersecurity job openings at the time, highlighting the urgent need for initiatives like this one.

In response to the growing cybersecurity challenges, NIST's award grantees will collaborate to establish the Regional Alliances and Multistakeholder Partnerships to Stimulate (RAMPS) cybersecurity education and workforce development program. This initiative aims to align with local businesses and nonprofits in need of cybersecurity professionals.

In a related effort, NIST led the establishment of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Safety Institute consortium in November last year, in response to an executive order on AI safety policies issued by the Biden administration.

Despite these efforts, data from Statista shows that in 2023, there were at least 100 cases of private data exposure for U.S. government entities reported, affecting the private data of 15 million people.

Overall, the Consumer Sentinel Network reported that more than 353 million people were impacted by data breaches in 2023. Additionally, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) received 880,418 complaints of cybercrime from the public in 2023, a 10% increase from 2022. The total cost of damage caused by cybercrime is expected to reach $10.5 trillion by 2025.