Naomi Cooper
Steve Schmidt, chief security officer at Amazon, said skills training and partnerships between the public and private sectors play a key role in developing the cybersecurity workforce of the future.
In a blog post published Tuesday, Schmidt shared that the company hosted a roundtable discussion with Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and a 2022 Wash100 awardee, to discuss ways to develop cybersecurity-focused career pathways to address the “global need for skilled, diverse workers.”
Easterly and leaders from private industry, academe and state and local government met ahead of Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October.
Schmidt underscored Amazon’s commitment to helping enhance the U.S. cybersecurity workforce by offering a free cybersecurity awareness training program, investing more than $1.2 billion in education and skills training for more than 300,000 employees and partnering with CISA.
Amazon also offers a subscription-based repository of more than 500 free digital courses, including over 40 security-related skills training materials.
“Additionally, we invest in educational opportunities such as AWS re:Inforce to provide tactical and strategic lessons on how to keep systems and tools protected, and ways to accelerate the pace of innovation while staying secure,” Schmidt said.
