A friend forwarded me a link to an article on NPR: “Cyberwarrior Shortage Threatens U.S. Security“.
Personally, I am a pacifist. I abhor violence in any form for any reason. I dislike war for the same reason. I am however a pragmatist. I believe that you should have the ability to defend yourself. I also believe that sometimes the best defense is a well timed attack. This is contradictory, but it is what I believe.
I also believe that being a warrior should be an honorable profession. It requires integrity, compassion, experience and perseverance. Not quite the skill set you will find in a 16 year old script-kiddie calling himself a security expert. Or somebody that would adjust his own scores by cheating.
Too many people call themselves security experts these days. The vast majority of them don’t have the qualifications, the integrity or the ability. The whole field of computer security is surrounded by way too much myth and hype for this to change in the near future.
One statement is true: True security experts are a rare breed and it is very hard and expensive to recruit them. Finding twenty to thirty thousand of them is unrealistic. You will be lucky to find two hundred of them. Obviously it would be better for society if this changes, but it will take a significant investment in math and science related fields.
Personally I am not applying, for the simple reason that I am a pacifist. But I do hope that the people chosen to be the warriors of the future live up to the expectations that we as society have for the defenders of our liberty and our lives.