The Harvesting American Cybersecurity Knowledge through Education (HACKED) Act passed the Senate Commerce Committee Wednesday (Nov. 13) with an amendment that would create a cybersecurity exchange program between government and industry.
The bill, which is co-sponsored by the bipartisan leadership of the committee and Communications Subcommittee, is meant to boost cybersecurity education and workforce.
The bill includes an amendment from Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) that would establish "a public-private cyber security professionals exchange program" that would recruit experts in the private sector and academia to join the federal government for up to a two-year hitch. On the other side, government computer experts would do "tours of duty in the private sector," in both cases to learn from each other and apply that knowledge to "help further secure government computer systems and critical infrastructure."
“With more than 300,000 cybersecurity job vacancies in the United States, ensuring that workers now and in the future have access to cyber education is a priority,” said ITI President Jason Oxman in a statement. “The bipartisan HACKED Act takes important steps to help fill this critical skills gap and bolster the U.S. cybersecurity workforce through long-term planning and investment."
