Legal Aspects of Cybersecurity Artur Appazov

6.7
 
Personnel Recruitment and Educational Training 
There is a need for many governments to broaden cybersecurity personnel recruitment 
and educational training efforts (in particular for law enforcement, judiciary and other 
authorities). The US government, for example, established the National Institute for 
Cybersecurity Education (NICE). NICE together with the Department of Education, and 
other agencies launched a four-prong strategy to build a cyber savvy nation through 
training, awareness, through post-graduate educational programs, and professional 
development for federal security professionals. To meet that goal, NICE targeted a wide 
array of the population as prospective employees: students and private sector partners.
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Any cybersecurity reform legislation should make these arrangements permanent. 
Governmental agencies should be given the authority and resources to initiate new 
recruitment and education campaigns and extend the scope of existing ones. The rationale 
for this investment is two-fold. First, in a world of ever-increasing connectivity, more 
cybersecurity will be needed to manage that connectivity, so there will be a parallel 
increase in demand for cybersecurity jobs. Second, through enhancing its presence in 
recruitment and education, the federal government can attract those individuals to fill 
cybersecurity jobs who might otherwise have joined the ranks of Anonymous or other 
hacker groups. Granted, persons who are anti-government or even apathetic towards 
government may not be persuaded by the government’s recruitment efforts. But for those 
young people who exhibit exceptional computer skills and seek a community that utilizes 
and appreciates those skills, the recruitment and education campaigns will certainly aid 
governments in this mission.
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While not all hacktivists are young, many of them are, 
suggesting that they might be subject to ideological capture. Without a substantial 
recruitment effort by governments, there is an obvious lack of an alternative hacking 
‘career path,’ so to speak, for those young persons looking for an outlet for their computer 
156
Id. at, 271. 
157
Kelly, B
OSTON 
U
NIVERSITY 
L
AW 
R
EVIEW
, 1695 (2012). 
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Id. at, 1696. 

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skills. Additionally, increased recruitment efforts might even help persuade those who 
already have joined hacktivist endeavors to work for governments.
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