Will Leverage the EARN Maryland (MD) Cybersecurity Industries Grant for Underrepresented Workforce Groups
Originally published on Newswire,
BETHESDA, Md., October 6, 2021 (Newswire.com) - CyberSN, the industry's leading cybersecurity career, and staffing firm, today announces that it will become a Strategic Industry Partner (SIP) with the SANS Institute, a training, and certification organization dedicated to empowering and educating current and future cybersecurity professionals. This partnership will be focused on expanding the impacts of the EARN Maryland (MD) Cybersecurity and Information Technology Industries grant being implemented through 2023 and with the SANS Cyber Workforce Academies and will aim to significantly increase the number of participants in the program.
"We are excited to partner with SANS and help them expand their reach in providing cybersecurity training scholarships for veterans, women, and other underrepresented groups," said Deidre Diamond, Founder, and CEO of CyberSN and Secure Diversity.
The hiring market for cybersecurity professionals is at peak competitiveness. It has never been more difficult for companies to find, hire, and retain these highly trained professionals. There are simply not enough cybersecurity professionals to keep up with the demand. Cyberseek.org states there are nearly 465,000 unfilled cybersecurity positions in the U.S. today. Cybersecurity has the widest gap in any field between the workforce skills and the necessary people who possess them.
"This is why now is the right time for this partnership," says Diamond. "It is widely accepted that there aren't enough trained people for all the open positions, and there is a significant deficiency of underrepresented groups. Individually, we can help, though collectively we can conquer and solve the problem."
The SANS Institute announced the expansion of their Cyber Workforce Academy and EARN Maryland (MD) Cybersecurity and Information Technology Industry grant initiative on August 3, 2021. To date, the EARN program has enrolled over 180 individuals and provided over $2.3 million in training via scholarships to Marylanders since it started in 2018. In the words of A. Riley, a past graduate of this program who was re-entering the workforce after an employment gap, "The SANS Cyber Workforce Academy was a great way to learn about today's cyber technology. The fast-paced courses brought me up to speed with current industry technology. The instructors, materials, and labs all worked together to provide a comprehensive study of where cyber technology is today." By joining this initiative as a SIP, CyberSN brings their vast network of cybersecurity professionals, both job seekers, and talent seekers, and will help drastically increase the volume of people being trained and served by this grant opportunity.
"SANS is committed to reducing barriers for existing professionals to access the training and certifications needed to advance in their careers. We are pleased to support the growth and diversification of the cybersecurity community in Maryland in collaboration with our partners. To that end, we encourage aspiring and existing Maryland cybersecurity professionals who are otherwise unable to access training and certification to apply to our program, and will prioritize applications from individuals identifying as women, veterans, and military spouses and members of the BIPOC community," said Maureen Shrewsbury, Manager SANS Cyber Workforce Development Programs.
To apply, individuals should reside in Maryland. See the SANS Cyber Talent Academy website or their listing in the CyberSN Provider Exchange for more information or to apply.
About CyberSN
Founded in 2014, CyberSN is a Woman-Owned Small Business (certified WBE & WOSB, 2022) and the industry's leading career and staffing firm solely focused on the cybersecurity talent industry across the U.S. From self-service to full-service recruitment, CyberSN provides professionals and hiring teams with the expertise, information, and resources to maximize performance, diversity, and retention. Recognized by its unique care and dedication to the cyber community including diversity and inclusion initiatives, and their innovative job search and hiring solutions, and resources such as the 45 Job Categories of Cybersecurity. Learn more at https://www.cybersn.com.
About SANS
The SANS Institute was established in 1989 as a cooperative research and education organization. Today, SANS is the most trusted and, by far, the largest provider of cyber security training and certification to professionals in government and commercial institutions worldwide. GIAC, an affiliate of the SANS Institute, validates practitioner skills through more than 35 hands-on, ANSI accredited technical certifications in cyber security. SANS also delivers a wide variety of free resources to the InfoSec community including consensus projects, research reports, webcasts, podcasts, and newsletters; it also operates the Internet's early warning system-the Internet Storm Center.
As part of SANS commitment to the information security community, SANS has run multiple scholarship programs since 2015 including the SANS Cyber Immersion Academies, which seek to grow the cybersecurity pipeline and increase diversity through innovative accelerated, intensive training and certification programs that develop real-world knowledge and hands-on skills needed to defend today's information security systems and provide opportunities to historically underrepresented populations in cybersecurity. (https://www.sans.org)
