Free Cybersecurity Training: U.S. Government Sources by Michael Erbschloe - HTML preview

Introduction

America has about 5.5 million open jobs today. Over half a million job openings are in information technology fields such as software development, network administration, and cybersecurity — rapidly growing sectors with many more jobs than just a decade ago. Whether in manufacturing, advertising, retail or banking, the average salary in a job that requires information technology (IT) skills is 50 percent higher than the average private-sector American job.

As of 2016 Businesses have added 13.5 million jobs over 68 straight months of private-sector job growth, extending the longest streak on record. While this progress is significant, employers are in critical need of tech talent and too many Americans lack the skills and experience to access these well-paying jobs. Over six million young Americans between the ages of 16 and 24 are out of school and work, which represents a significant untapped resource of productivity and talent for the country.

Today’s world is more interconnected than ever before. Yet, for all its advantages, increased connectivity brings increased risk of theft, fraud, and abuse. As Americans become more reliant on modern technology, we also become more vulnerable to cyber attacks such as corporate security breaches, spear phishing, and social media fraud. Complementary cybersecurity and law enforcement capabilities are critical to safeguarding and securing cyberspace. Law enforcement performs an essential role in achieving our nation’s cybersecurity objectives by investigating a wide range of cyber crimes, from theft and fraud to child exploitation, and apprehending and prosecuting those responsible. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) works with other federal agencies to conduct high-impact criminal investigations to disrupt and defeat cyber criminals, prioritize the recruitment and training of technical experts, develop standardized methods, and broadly share cyber response best practices and tools. Criminal investigators and network security experts with deep understanding of the technologies malicious actors are using and the specific vulnerabilities they are targeting work to effectively respond to and investigate cyber incidents.

(Link: https://www.dhs.gov/topic/combating-cyber-crime)

Consider this:

• Within the past year, personally identifiable information has been stolen in a number of significant cyber data breaches, impacting industries like health care, government, finance, corporate, and retail.
• The use of malware by online criminals continues unabated, and of the available intrusion devices, the “bot” is particularly pervasive, allowing attackers to take control remotely of compromised computers. Once in place, these “botnets” can be used in distributed denial-of-service attacks, proxy and spam services, additional malware distribution, and other organized criminal activity.
• Cyber criminals perpetrate a wide variety of crimes online, including theft of intellectual property, Internet fraud, identity fraud, and any number of financial fraud schemes.
• Sexual predators use the Internet and social media to target the youngest and most vulnerable victims.
• And many criminals use the so-called “dark web” or “dark market” websites that offer a range of illegal goods and services for sale on a network designed to conceal the true IP addresses of the computers on it.

The FBI—working in conjunction with its many partners at the local, state, federal, and international levels, as well as with industry—takes its own role in cyber security very seriously. That role involves operational efforts—including investigating and disrupting cyber-related national security threats and cyber crimes and collecting, analyzing, and disseminating cyber threat intelligence. It also involves outreach efforts to industry. Here are just a few examples of how we’re doing all of that:

• The FBI-led National Cyber Joint Investigative Task Force serves as the national focal point for coordinating cyber threat investigations. The work of the NCJITF includes a national public/private initiative to mitigate the use of botnets and malware by criminals, which has emerged as a global cyber security threat.
• Cyber task forces in all 56 field offices coordinate domestic cyber threat investigations in local communities through information sharing, incident response, and joint enforcement and intelligence actions.
• InfraGard—an information-sharing and analysis effort with private sector partners who own, operate, and hold key positions within some 85 percent of the nation’s critical infrastructure—equips its members to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities, develop incident response plans, and enact security best practices.
• The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) accepts online submissions for Internet-related crime complaints, often involving fraudulent claims to consumers. These complaints can not only lead to culprits getting caught, but also help identify regional, national, or international trends to educate the public about constantly evolving cyber threats and scams.
• The FBI’s Safe Online Surfing website, an online program that promotes cyber citizenship by educating young students in the essentials of online security in an effort to help protect them from child predators, cyber bullies, malware, a multitude of schemes, and other dangers on the Internet.

(Link: https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/national-cyber-security-awareness-month)