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Ahead of the Curve: TCSG is developing a workforce that's on top of today's cybersecurity concerns
On a sweltering day last summer, it was business as usual for people wanting to buy and sell cars in the U.S. That is, until it wasn’t. On June 18 and 19, multiple ransomware attacks struck software company CDK Global, which more than half of the car dealerships in the U.S. use to operate their businesses. As a result, for nearly a week, thousands of businesses were essentially shut down, and it was practically impossible to buy a car until cybersecurity personnel were able to resolve the issue.
As the world becomes more interconnected and reliant on computers, data, the Internet of Things (IoT), and AI to function, it’s becoming even more crucial to have people in place to protect your company’s assets.
That means there is a never-ending demand for those skilled in cybersecurity, and here in Georgia, there’s a pipeline of talented employees ready to get started, thanks to the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) and its campuses offering cybersecurity degrees and certificates.
According to Business Facilities Magazine, in 2021, Georgia ranked in the top seven states for cybersecurity growth.
“The job prospects are enormous,” says Dr. Jermaine Whirl, president of Augusta Technical College. “You have a lot of startup companies that are coming out of the ground. You’ve got military veterans who are coming out of service, and they want to start a business. … If you are interested in this, this is the place to be in the country.”
In fact, Georgia leads the nation in the development of cyber talent and research, with 10 colleges and universities earning designations as a National Center of Academic Excellence (CAE) in either cyber defense (CD) or research (R) – including several TCSG colleges.
“What that means is that the curriculum has been viewed and determined to be of high standards, the types of standards that the federal government wants and needs in order to defend against cybersecurity attacks,” says Garfield Anderson, dean of computer science at Gwinnett Tech, a CAE-CD certified school.
“That is a very, very, very hard designation to get,” Dr. Whirl agrees. Augusta Tech was the first in Georgia in 2018 to receive this certification. “That basically tells the world that our program of study meets those standards at the national level for security clearances for Homeland Security, and we have the curriculum that is validated by them as well. That’s a pretty powerful message.”
Nexus of Innovation
Over the past few years, Augusta has become a lightning rod for cybersecurity innovation. In fact, it was recognized by CSO Online in 2019 as one of the top 10 hubs for cybersecurity in the world.
That’s because here you’ll find the $100-million Georgia Cyber Center, which is a collaboration between academia, state and federal government, law enforcement, the U.S. Army, the private sector, and the recently relocated Cyber Command on Fort Eisenhower, the central post for all of the U.S. Army’s cybersecurity operations.
You’ll also find Augusta Technical College, which partners with both of these entities in its efforts to create a strong workforce. The college is committed to bolstering the number of people entering the field and ensuring they have the most up-to date knowledge and skills to do their job well.
As part of that effort, it recently partnered with industry leaders, local business organizations, other educational entities, and government experts for the inaugural Georgia Cyber Innovation Summit, which was held at the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center this past May.
The summit boasted an impressive lineup of speakers, such as government officials like the chief information officer for the state of Georgia and high-profile experts from renowned organizations like Microsoft, Truist, and NCR Voyix.
More than 200 registrants from across Georgia attended. “We had all the top corporate execs, plus the state cybersecurity leaders, a number of educators,” Dr. Whirl says. “It was probably one of the best, most comprehensive summits that has been put on in the state of Georgia.”
The event was so successful, another one will be held in Atlanta in October, and it will become an annual event.
Community Collaboration
While Augusta is a mighty hub of cybersecurity experts and innovation, metro Atlanta, with its Fortune 500 companies, hospital systems, and numerous city governments, has a wealth of opportunities for those seeking careers in cybersecurity. Gwinnett Technical College and Atlanta Technical College are both working in their communities to strengthen people’s knowledge and awareness of what is possible with cybersecurity degrees.
“People think cybersecurity, that you have to work for an IT company,” says Dr. Victoria Seals, president of Atlanta Technical College. “But companies like The Home Depot and those that have big point of sales also have really large cybersecurity divisions.”
“The jobs are there, the demand is there,” agrees Albena AsenovaBelal, cybersecurity program director for Gwinnett Tech. “We just need to provide them with the skills they need.”
Those who work to prevent and recover from ransomware attacks such as the one in June are usually who comes to mind when you think of cybersecurity. But the industry is much broader than just the people protecting our data.
With a cybersecurity degree, you can pursue a career as a cryptanalyst, data protection officer, cybersecurity investigator, security code auditor, and more. Cyber technicians detect and prevent cyber-attacks, monitor network activity to prevent internal attacks, employ encryption techniques, and do disaster and incident recovery, auditing, and system testing.
The demand is high and only going to grow, so where will the people come from to fill these jobs?
To help find undiscovered talent out in the community, Atlanta Technical College is partnering with Elevance Health on an innovative program that doesn’t just fill empty IT positions, it supports and trains those in underserved communities, such as those who grew up in foster care, to find success in a long-term and high paying career.
“It’s a talent pool that’s untapped,” says Monty Green, manager of the Elevance Health IT Apprenticeship Program. “So, we train the individuals to give them what all of us want, which is a good life and to earn good income.”
Launched in 2018, the program has so far provided a career pathway for four cohorts of six to eight students. Over the course of four to five years, the apprentices receive on-the-job training within the company’s IT departments, along with professional career development guidance and mentoring. Apprentices also obtain their IT or cybersecurity degree at Atlanta Technical College while they are paid to work at Elevance Health.
“Those who came into our program in the beginning are all still here. They are moving into these positions and doing the jobs. Many have won awards for their work in their departments,” Green says. “These are individuals that on paper, someone said because of their background, because of the zip code they may live in, they can’t do the job. They’re not hirable. And we’re saying, well, that’s not really true.”
At Atlanta Tech, many of its students like those in the Elevance Health IT Apprenticeship Program live in the surrounding metro Atlanta area and are not planning or wanting to move elsewhere. For them, getting a good job means getting a good job in Atlanta.
“We’re serving individuals who have lived in the Atlanta area their entire lives. They really aren’t looking to move,” Dr. Seals says. “So, it’s really critically important that we enable them to experience economic mobility and be able to afford to stay in their hometown.”
Augusta Tech is also ensuring those who want to continue their education can do so locally. In April, TCSG signed an agreement with Augusta University that allows students who earn a two-year associate degree at Augusta Tech or any of the other 22 technical colleges in Georgia to transfer to Augusta University’s School of Computer and Cyber Sciences to pursue a bachelor’s in cybersecurity. The agreement, which officially began this fall, is the first of its kind in the state of Georgia.
“It’s the first statewide agreement ever in the history of both systems that a tech college has an agreement with a research institution,” Dr. Whirl says. “It’s a big deal.”
Always Looking Ahead
The cybersecurity field is constantly changing as new ways of infiltrating systems and accessing people’s data are developed. So TCSG colleges are continuously adapting and updating curriculum to stay current.
“Hackers are learning new ways to hack, so the training has to change on a regular basis,” Gwinnett Tech’s Anderson says. “And when I say regular, I mean like every six months. It’s that frequent.”
“Because everything changes so rapidly, we need to update our content every two, three semesters for all the courses we have,” agrees AsenovaBelal.
Plus, there’s new technology and ways we interact with it, such as through IoT and AI.
“It seems to be shifting more toward artificial intelligence and how one can use it. That is a real challenge for the industry,” says Phil Plantamura, COO of Security Onion Solutions, which offers a free, open platform for threat hunting, network security monitoring, and log management that counts the U.S. government as one of its users. Plantamura sits on Augusta Tech’s cybersecurity advisory board, which helps the college’s classes focus on the skills needed now by employers. He also lends his time and expertise to talk with classes, share knowledge, and mentor students one-on-one.
“It’s something that is kind of required when you have a product discussion with someone,” he says. “They want to know immediately what kind of machine learning or artificial intelligence capabilities you have.”
To address these new advances, TCSG colleges are launching new programs and tweaking existing ones to stay current while also training people for jobs that didn’t exist 10 years ago.
Augusta Tech began offering an associate degree in cloud computing and solutions last year, and in August, it launched a new data analytics AI integration certificate program.
“We also have the only accounting cybersecurity degree in the state, which is integrating cybersecurity into our accounting program for financial services,” Dr. Whirl says. “We moved into cloud computing and now we’re into AI. So, I believe our college has put a significant stamp in terms of what IT and cybersecurity education looks like.”
Atlanta Tech is also integrating conversations about AI into its cybersecurity classes.
“It’s a tool for our teams and for our instructors as we engage in training, teaching students not to be afraid of new technologies or tools such as AI, but to really embrace it,” Atlanta Tech’s Dr. Seals says. “When they’re working to protect different systems, they can recognize those bots and different ways that bad actors are using AI.”
“We’re also looking into AI now, the big elephant in the room,” AsenovaBelal says. “Everybody’s talking about using it and wants to implement it, teach the students how to use it as a learning tool, not as a cheating tool.”
Thanks to all these efforts to keep students as up to date and skilled as possible, Plantamura has found that graduates from TCSG’s Augusta Tech are ready to work and knowledgeable about the field.
“It’s nice to know they’re being prepared, like their knowledge of networking, routing and firewalls, hardware, knowledge of different hardware components,” Plantamura says. “Understanding virtualization, cloud technologies and how to troubleshoot when something’s wrong.”
Ultimately, the outlook for cybersecurity jobs is strong with no signs of slowing down. Especially here in Georgia, there will be plenty of job openings in the future.
“The fact that we have a lot of the cybersecurity organizations moving to Georgia tells me that they recognize that Georgia can provide the quality employees that they desire,” Gwinnett Tech’s Anderson says.
And TCSG ensures there’s a solid pipeline of skilled workers for the jobs to come.
“We have a 99% job placement rate,” Dr. Seals says. “We align with our employer partners to make sure that our programs are preparing graduates with the competencies that the companies need, and they are going straight to work.”
“You don’t need an SAT, you don’t need an ACT, you don’t need a Compass exam. You come right in the door. We take people as they are, and we take them from their level and we get them to being an expert,” Dr. Whirl says. “That’s the beauty of technical education.”
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