Jay Clemens
Government agencies will continue to see an increase in their budget requests for cyber operations even as overall budgets remain flat, according to KCG President Maryann Hirsch.
In a piece for Security Magazine published Friday, Hirsch wrote that U.S. Cyber Command more than doubled its funding to $447 million in 2013 and the Department of Homeland Security‘s cybersecurity operations funding grew $792 million year-over-year.
Hirsch also says chief information security officers will play an increasing role in financial management and oversight.
She also highlighted demand from organizations to acquire up-to-date knowledge of existing and emerging technologies and vulnerabilities, the report says.
Hirsch writes organizations face recruitment challenges as the number of qualified cybersecurity professionals remains low.
“There are about 1,000 security people in the U.S. who have the specialized security skills to operate effectively in cyberspace. We need 10,000 to 30,000,” Jim Gosler, a National Security Agency visiting scientist and founding director of CIA’s clandestine information technology office, told the magazine.
