Foundation Offers Scholarships to Turn Vets Into Cyberwarriors
Military veterans are often equipped to help fill the cybersecurity shortage with just a little additional training.
More organizations are coming on board to help train up and prepare military veterans for careers in information technology and cybersecurity.
The (ISC)2 Foundation and Booz Allen Hamilton on Thursday announced the launch of the U.S.A. Cyber Warrior Scholarship program, which will provide scholarships to veterans to obtain specialized certifications in the cybersecurity field. The scholarships will cover all of the expenses associated with a certification, such as training, textbooks, mobile study materials, certification testing and the first year of certification maintenance fees.
The scholarship program was created in response to findings in (ISC)2’s most recent Global Information Security Workforce Study, which found a significant workforce shortage in the cybersecurity field -- one that is negatively impacting organizations and leading to more frequent and costly data breaches.
Many job ratings in the military require security certification, and many veterans perform tasks in the military that could prepare them for work in the cybersecurity field if they received additional training.
“We see this program as matching military veterans seeking to ease their way back into civilian life who already have a strong, innate desire to protect their country with a profession desperate to fill open positions that is also ripe with opportunity,” said Julie Peeler, director of the (ISC)2 Foundation.
The application period for the scholarships will open July 1. The scholarship committee will award a total of 10 scholarships to veterans, and winners will be announced in October during National Cybersecurity Awareness Month.
The new scholarship program comes just months after the White House and several private companies launched the IT Training and Certification Partnership to help up to 161,000 service members gain access to training and certifications for 12 high-demand technology professions. Other programs like Vets in Tech also are working to train up veterans for tech careers.
For more information on the scholarships, click here.