U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) on Tuesday offered the bipartisan Harvesting American Cybersecurity Knowledge through Education (HACKED) Act of 2019 to boost America’s cybersecurity workforce in both the public and private sectors.
“Cybersecurity risks are constant in the growing digital world,” Sen. Wicker said. “It is critical that the United States stay ahead of malicious cyber activity with a workforce that can safeguard our innovation, research, and work environments.”
Sen. Wicker on Nov. 5 sponsored S. 2775 with lead original cosponsor U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), who are chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, to increase the number of existing science education and cybersecurity training programs within the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
“This legislation is an important first step to expand the cybersecurity workforce and provide tools to support necessary education and training,” said Sen. Wicker.
Sen. Cantwell added that America is experiencing “a serious shortage” of cyber workers, noting that there are currently 300,000 cyber-related vacancies nationwide.
The legislation, she said, “would help address this by training cybersecurity educators and skilling American workers to do these jobs, as well as increasing coordination on these issues throughout the government.”
If enacted, S. 2775 also would incentivize the recruitment of cybersecurity educators; improve cybersecurity awareness guidelines for federal agencies; and increase coordination in federal cybersecurity workforce programs through a new Office of Science and Technology Policy working group, among other provisions.
The measure is under consideration in the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.