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OPM Survey to Provide Picture of Best Federal Cyber Pro

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Photo: Andrewy Kiselev

The Office of Personnel Management announced it has completed a governmentwide cybersecurity survey and the agency is now using those results to put together a picture of the perfect — or, at least, the most competent — federal cyber professional.

“Cybersecurity is essential to protecting the American people,” said OPM Director John Berry. “The federal government must create a comprehensive model to recruit and retain the corps of highly skilled cybersecurity experts necessary to support our national security.”

OPM began handing out the surveys to about federal 50,000 employees in September. The agency queried members of the federal workforce on how they handle cybersecurity as part of their daily routine, and the results will be used to create a cybersecurity “competency model,” which pinpoints the skills needed for federal cyber pros as well as how to successfully recruit and retain them.

In 2009, OPM, along with the Chief Information Officers Council, and the Chief Human Capital Officers Council identified cybersecurity as one of the top priorities for constructing such a governmentwide competency model.

And, in December, OPM’s Chief Human Capital Officer Nancy Kichak said the agency was mulling whether to create a new cyber career track for federal employees.

“This is not just about determining a new class,” she said. “It’s also about helping agencies figure out how to recruit and find the people they need to do their work,” she said.

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