Whatcom Community College National Center to Meet Demand for Cybersecurity Workers

Whatcom County is a national cybersecurity hotbed, although many area residents who are not in the specialized profession are unaware of it.

Bellingham's important role was on full display during an event held Wednesday, April 24, at Whatcom Community College, home to three different, interlocking cybersecurity education centers at the national and state level.

The event, titled Securing the Next Generation of Technology Workers, attracted approximately 100 employers, educators and students to hear about the growing demand for cybersecurity professionals, as well as what the industry can do to support and attract students graduates from WCC’s cybersecurity programs.

Currently, cybersecurity is in high demand here in Washington State. There are more than 7,500 unfilled jobs, said Brent Lundstrom, director of the Washington State Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (CCoE) located at WCC and the organization behind the event. It's our job here at the Center of Excellence to work with industry to understand what their needs are from our graduates and to try to align the program to make sure it matches the needs of what industries are looking for.

To date, the COE has stated that its two-year cybersecurity associate study programs have graduated 544 students since 2013 and have approximately 181 currently enrolled. A new four-year bachelor’s degree program has graduated 66 students since 2018 and currently has approximately 48 students enrolled.

Community colleges' focus on cybersecurity education has also led to them not just being the headquarters of states. CCoE Cybersecurity Information Centerbut also the project funded by the National Science Foundation National Cybersecurity Training and Education Center (NCyTE)and the CAE National Applicant Centerwhich supports other colleges and universities seeking recognition for excellence in cybersecurity education.

In 2021, the State Council for Community and Technical Colleges determined that there was such a shortage of cybersecurity professionals that it was actually putting our state at risk, Lundstrom said. Out of 34 community colleges in Washington state, they chose Whatcom to house its Cybersecurity Center of Excellence. I think it's really a tribute to the work Whatcom has done here in the state as well as nationally.

AI drives demand

The demand for cybersecurity professionals is growing rapidly, in part due to the rise of artificial intelligence. Keynote speaker Jim Reavis, CEO of the nonprofit Cloud Security Alliance, said generative AI tools make it easier for bad actors to create potentially more effective phishing emails and analyze them quickly. systems looking for vulnerabilities.

But he also said generative AI could help cybersecurity companies develop a new set of tools to combat attacks. And that, he told the students and faculty in the audience, will require better and broader knowledge.

The cybersecurity toolkit will be AI, but your skills and how you apply them will have to be pretty immense, Reavis said.

Lundstrom said other factors leading to increased demand for the workforce are regulatory and policy issues surrounding concerns such as privacy, and organizations are turning to cloud-first infrastructure to store data. and do business.

Businesses must stay involved

Attendees at the afternoon event included government and industry representatives, such as the Port of Bellingham, Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce, Whatcom Transit Authority, City of Ferndale, Janicki , Phillips 66 and Oracle.

A panel of cybersecurity experts advised businesses to stay engaged.

You really need to develop those relationships with cybersecurity programs, said Kris Rides, co-founder and CEO of TIRO Security, to gain access to the best students. You want students to be ready to help you from day one.

And any advice for students?

When you hear about a new technology, become a subject matter expert because all the information is actually out there and available, said Shawn Harris, assistant director of information security at Chipotle Mexican Grill. Each member of my team must keep up to date with new technologies, because we are always learning in this field.

Lundstrom, noting that speakers also came from Boeing, the Washington State Auditor's Office and the Cloud Security Alliance, observed what could be another sign of the success of COE's cybersecurity programs.

We have panelists, he said, who are former students who are now panelists.

Frank Catalano writes on business and related topics for CDN; contact him at [email protected].