From internet-connected cars and phones to smart ovens and streetlights, each new technological advancement brings more connectivity and convenience to Americans’ everyday lives. However, with each new innovation, digital adversaries aren’t far behind, identifying vulnerabilities and exploiting them in attacks.
Perhaps no state is more aware of this than Maryland. From the National Security Agency to Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, the federal agencies and other assets headquartered in the state are home to a massive concentration of cyber talent unlike any other in the world.
There’s good reason to believe Maryland’s cybersecurity prowess could lead to outsized economic gains. Like technology itself, cybersecurity is embedded in every industry, from financial services and health care to transportation and education. Each will require its own expertise to solve, creating a demand for more professionals with varied skillsets and experiences.
Though leaders take a long-term view of the road ahead, evidence is already emerging that the foundation laid in recent years is beginning to produce results. The National Capital Region, which includes D.C., Maryland and Virginia, has the largest and most concentrated cybersecurity workforce in the United States, according to a 2024 study commissioned by TEDCO, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, and conducted by the firm Lightcast.
While the opportunity has been identified and progress has been made, it’s clear there is still work to be done. Nationwide, the demand for cybersecurity jobs has long outpaced supply, leading many to identify a talent gap in the profession. Maryland’s unique position doesn’t leave it immune to this workforce trend; instead, it is the poster child. Alongside the highest concentration of talent, Maryland also has the largest talent gap. As an example, 6,500 cybersecurity jobs went unfilled in the two months between Dec. 2023 and Jan. 2024, the report states.
Yet there is a concerted effort to provide a bridge. In recent years, the state has redoubled its efforts to supercharge cyber workforce development. These efforts led to the creation of the Cyber Maryland Program, which was created during the 2023 legislative session to take aim at those vacancies.
“As we do have the most cyber jobs in the nation, it is important that we have the workforce to fill those jobs,” said Supro Ghose, the chief information security officer of Graphene Security and vice co-chair of the Cyber Maryland Board. “That’s why this program is so important to create the right foundation and the right impetus for these cyber jobs in Maryland to be filled.”
Ghose was among the speakers on a panel that focused on growing the state’s cyber workforce and the Cyber Maryland program at the recent TEDCO Entrepreneur Expo. Titled “Building a Pipeline to Protect our Digital Infrastructure” and moderated by TEDCO’s executive director of government program development, affairs & research Alex Choi, the intimate conversation between leaders was a highlight of the 10th Expo, which brought together innovation leaders from across sectors to the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel on Dec. 4, 2024.
The complex challenge to expand the cyber workforce cuts across disciplines, so collaboration between leaders is a key ingredient for success. Ghose’s participation signified the importance of technical leaders, but that’s only part of the solution. As such, the panel included Maryland Secretary of Labor Portia Wu and Shuana Davis, deputy director of the Maryland Workforce Development Board, both representing the importance of legislative leaders in the discussion.
“The collaboration between the Cyber Maryland Board and the Governor's Workforce Development Board has been a vital initiative to strengthen Maryland cybersecurity workforce and talent pipelines,” Davis said. “Together, we've aligned strategies, and there has been a ton of synergy around leveraging what that looks like for the Cyber Maryland program itself and for the Cyber Maryland Board.”
To build on the insights gained from the spring study, the groups came together over the summer to spearhead 65 interviews with leaders from key federal agencies, large employers, small businesses and cyber practitioners. Davis called it a “beautiful sprint,” noting a key takeaway: leaders from across the state want to “roll up their sleeves to help contribute to the work.”
Collaboration is also required to understand the demand signal for talent and create education initiatives that answer it. The result can be an expansion of existing programs, or the creation of innovative approaches that will reach people where they are.
Maryland’s state government is working with community colleges across the state to expand opportunities for people to move quickly into jobs, Wu said. Recently, Gov. Wes Moore announced a $1.8 million grant to BCR Cyber and the Maryland Association of Community Colleges that will bolster experiential education by providing hands-on training at cyber ranges at the state’s community colleges.
Employers are often willing to play a role in training talent, and many professionals want to start as soon as possible. As such, Maryland is also seeking to bolster cybersecurity apprenticeships. Wu described these as “learn and earn opportunities,” where “you’re taking coursework and learning and working on the job and demonstrating your mastery of skills at the same time.”
“It's a great way for people to get into a field, for them to start learning and also apply what they're learning every single day, and they're getting paid all along, because a lot of folks can't afford to spend two years going to school and then work,” Wu said.
Both cyber ranges and apprenticeships provide experiential training that helps professionals quickly level up their skills. That can be particularly valuable in the workforce, Ghose said, where industry leaders voiced a need for more talent in the “middle tier” of experience. Those are the people on the front lines, responding to cyber threats every day.
“There are a lot of incidents coming in, and you need people to be fast on their feet, really learning, really understanding and being able to take action,” Ghose said. “The theoretical knowledge through our four-year colleges or your two-year colleges, plus certification and the cyber ranges, is the recipe for success.”
In the end, cybersecurity careers grow from a pipeline of talent, and all parts are necessary.
“We want to get more people in the pipeline. Let's widen that out. Let's bring more people to it, help them figure out how to get through it, but then also move to those middle-skill or higher-skilled jobs,” Wu said. “And I think we need to figure out how we work with employers and higher education institutions to make sure those offerings are available.”
Time is of the essence. Right now, many employers and educational institutions think about the time it takes a new trainee to gain experience in three to five-year timeframes.
“We need to compress that experience into a much shorter period of time with a very meaningful, one-year training program; that experience has to be very curated and very intentional,” Wu said.
It’s difficult but necessary. Cybersecurity moves fast; technology is quickly redefining the possibilities, and the nature of attacks is changing with it. Advances in AI are only raising the stakes.
“We need to figure out not just what are we offering today, but how can we have the partnerships and the feedback loops so we can invent what we need to develop for tomorrow?” Wu said.
The infrastructure of education is important, but a bit of marketing will also help. In a sea of options, cybersecurity must stand out to students to gain popularity as a career choice. A career in cybersecurity offers financial opportunities and economic mobility, while the work is defined by mission orientation, and the opportunity to work on the front lines to solve over-the-horizon technical challenges. That must be communicated.
The good news is that Maryland has plenty going in its favor. With a breadth of talent and institutions, panelists agreed that there was no shortage of creative and technical talent and plenty to build on. There are valuable lessons to learn from other states and national entities that can help, as well.
“You can see the alignment under the Moore-Miller administration,” Davis said. “You can see everyone strengthening the lane that they are in and making sure they're complementary to the next lane. How can economic development be complementary to workforce, and workforce be complementary to economic development and then to education? And we all have that shared partnership and shared vision for economic mobility for all Marylanders. I think we are the prime place where we're able to do that in a more concentrated way.”
Maryland is already a leader in talent. With more pieces in place, it’s poised to take the lead in talent development and bridge the talent gap.
Source: Washington Business Journal