Threats develop and change at "Internet speed," Chet Hosmer, president of
Wetstone Technologies, a cybersecurity research development company, told
the hearing. He said it is essential that higher-education curricula be able
to adapt quickly to produce security experts who can deal with changing
threats.

Many Wetstone employees also teach at local New York community colleges and
larger universities, including Utica College of Syracuse University, Hosmer
added.

He pointed to criminal-justice programs as an example of how rigidity within
higher-education curricula creates fragmented cybersecurity training
programs.

"Unfortunately, most criminal-justice university programs are offered out of
the social science departments at universities, (whereas) computer science
is a hard science, out of math or computer science departments," Hosmer
said. "Building programs that cross domains is quite difficult for many
reasons, and the student typically lacks depth in either area and is
ill-prepared for (work in) digital investigation after graduation." Wetstone
offers internships that help students engage in practical application of the
theories they learn in school, he added.

The focus on practical skills promoted by most community colleges puts such
institutions in a perfect position to tackle cybersecurity education, said
Erich Spengler, an associate professor at Morain Valley Community College in
Illinois and director of the regional center for systems and information
assurance.

Spengler said 44 percent of the country's undergraduate students -- about
10.4 million people -- attend technical or community colleges. 
Those institutions rely heavily on local business and industry to foster
learning within the classroom and to serve as potential employers after
graduation, he added.

Military training

Second Lieutenant David Aparicio testified on behalf of the Air Force and as
class valedictorian of the Advanced Course of Engineering on Cybersecurity.
The program is designed to meet the recommendations of the National Strategy
to Secure Cyberspace, an initiative promoting cybersecurity education in
government, academia, and industry.

"ACE taught me not only technical competence but mental flexibility to solve
any problem placed in front of me - academic or critical," 
Aparicio said. The intense ten-week program involved weekly all-day
lectures, and then the students had to solve real-world problems. The
14 students were mentored on military and industry projects, creating a
holistic awareness of real threats lurking in the cyberworld, according to
Aparicio.

"I plan to eventually work for the Central Intelligence Agency or the
National Security Agency with my new view of the world," Aparicio said.

Boehlert said the success of ACE and the demand for ACE graduates is visible
in the decision to double the enrollment this summer, to 28 students.

Hosmer told the committee that while educational endeavors are crucial, the
training doesn't end on graduation day.

"Every week we get requests from (industry workers) who want to get trained
by us," Hosmer said. "They are often paying for the training out of their
own pocket and are taking vacation time to do it," he said, emphasizing the
recognized market demand for cybersecurity training.

Emily Kumler writes for the Medill News Service.