Forcepoint’s Eric Trexler: Automation, ‘National Guard’ Could Help Agencies Maintain Stable Cyber Workforce

Eric Trexler, vice president of global governments and critical infrastructure at Forcepoint, has said agencies should initiate efforts to hire and retain a stable pool of cybersecurity professionals and one of those measures is to establish a cyber “National Guard.”

Trexler wrote in a Nextgov article published Friday that the National Guard initiative would provide agencies with a “homegrown workforce” trained to counter cyber threats and time to grow the workforce.

“In exchange for a year or more of cybersecurity training, students would commit to the equivalent number of years of government cybersecurity work,” he said of the National Guard program.

He called on agencies to retrain employees to become cyber professionals and automate common security tasks in order to boost employee productivity.

Trexler noted that agencies should centralize all cybersecurity programs and activities under a single organization.

“Placing the responsibility under one roof will help the government focus on training, hiring and keeping the best people as opposed to the most people to fill needs at every agency,” he added.