Jay Clemens
Dave Wajsgras, president of Raytheon‘s intelligence business segment, has said the U.S. needs what he describes as a “proactive and collective effort” to address future cybersecurity needs.
Wajsgras wrote in a blog post published Thursday that the National Cyber Security Awareness Month calls for all stakeholders to reinforce their efforts to protect the entire cyber infrastructure.
He said that effort requires the right resources and talent to develop technologies that work to protect cyberspace and noted that there is currently a deficiency in the cyber workforce.
Wajsgras called for an increased cyber awareness among the youth in order to address the growing shortage of cyber professionals, which is estimated at one million.
“We will increasingly depend on our young people to pursue science, technology, engineering and math [STEM],” he said.
“Eliminating the growing deficit in our cyber workforce requires that we all, no matter what industry we’re in, focus on raising cyber awareness among our youngest generations.”
Wajsgras also cited a survey that indicates women constituted only 10 percent of the world’s information security workforce in 2015.
Stakeholders should also work to close the gender gap in STEM fields as part of an overall reevaluation of the current mindset on cybersecurity, he added.
