New Cyber Hiring Authority at DHS

The Homeland Security Department on Thursday announced a new authority to recruit and hire cybersecurity professionals across the agency over the next three years. The new authority comes as the department declares October as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

The new authority, which DHS created in collaboration with the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget, authorizes DHS to staff up to 1,000 positions over three years across all agency components to fill critical cybersecurity roles, including cyber risk and strategic analysis, cyber incident response, vulnerability detection and assessment, intelligence and investigation and network and systems engineering.

"Effective cybersecurity requires all partners -- individuals, communities, government entities and the private sector -- to work together to protect our networks and strengthen our cyber resiliency," said DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. "This new hiring authority will enable DHS to recruit the best cyber analysts, developers and engineers in the world to serve their country by leading the nation's defenses against cyber threats."

While the agency does not anticipate the need to fill all 1,000 positions, the cap reflects the Obama administration's commitment to providing the department all of the tools necessary to build a top-notch cybersecurity workforce, DHS said.