Recent data breaches at some of the most well-known retailers in the country have underlined the need for better cybersecurity. Florida institutions are working to make the sunshine state a major player in the growing cybersecurity industry.
Cybersecurity expert Dr. Peter Singer with the Brookings Institution estimates cybercrime is a $120 billion industry and growing. Meanwhile the demand for cybersecurity professionals is great.
“A very recent document told us that there were 30,000 cybersecurity professional positions open in the country and there were only 2,000 qualified candidates,” said Dr. Sri Sridharan, Managing Director of the Center for Cybersecurity at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
“So there’s a huge demand and the demand is only going to pick up even more over the next several months and couple of years.”
The Center, created at the urging of the 2013 Florida Legislature, will begin offering a master’s program in cybersecurity this fall. The Center will also have research programs and outreach efforts with the Department of Defense and private sector businesses looking to better protect sensitive data. In addition, the Center will also target veterans. “There are going to be about 84,000 veterans coming back to MacDill Air force Base,” said Sridharan. “Many of them have strong intel backgrounds. We want to offer them certifications to be able to integrate them back into the workforce very quickly.”
Florida Institute of Technology professor Dr. Richard Ford said FIT also works to put the state on the map of this growing industry. “We have a thriving graduate program at the master’s level in cybersecurity that’s offered both online and on campus,” said Ford.
“We’re working on getting a PhD program started up right now which we’re very excited about and will be announcing more information on that soon.”
Ford said extraordinary demand in the field also presents challenges to retaining students. “One of the biggest problems we have is keeping students until they graduate because they’re getting six figure offers while they’re studying.”
Sridharan says USF and Florida Tech are among a network of 11 state institutions that are beginning to work together more collaboratively to make Florida a hub for the industry.
