Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) has said a central team of cyber experts could help address the federal government’s information technology skills shortage, FCW reported Tuesday.Chase Gunter writes Hurd said at a meeting of the House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Information Technology that the “cyber national guard” will recruit qualified IT professionals who will serve in the public and private sectors on a rotational basis.
Steve Cooper, former chief information officer of the Commerce Department, told the subcommittee that the proposed cyber team could be jointly managed by the General Services Administration, Office of Personnel Management, Department of Homeland Security and the Defense Department.
Cooper said these cyber experts could serve six-month to two-year terms and perform short-term tasks such as penetration tests and security badge deployment at various federal agencies, according to a report by Mohana Ravindranath for Nextgov.
Nick Marinos, assistant director of IT at the Government Accountability Office, said the rotational arrangement could pose a coordination challenge to agencies and require cooperation between C-suite officials such as chief human capital officers and chief information security officers, the report noted.
