Unpacking the New National Cybersecurity Strategy: Key Takeaways for Developers and Security Experts

At Black Hat 2023, Kemba Walden, Acting National Cyber Director at the White House, outlined a new national cybersecurity strategy aimed at strengthening defenses through workforce development and technology initiatives.

For developers and technology professionals, this strategy has major implications, validating the importance of cybersecurity skills while offering expanded career pathways. Let’s explore the key announcements and what they mean for IT talent.

Government Seeking Hacker Community Input on Cyber Challenges

In his opening remarks at Black Hat, conference founder Jeff Moss noted that the government is actively engaging and seeking input from the hacker community on cybersecurity issues. Moss urged attendees to provide responsible guidance and act as trusted advisors.

As Walden explained, collaboration with hackers who can help safeguard systems is a strategic priority. With major attacks growing in impact and sophistication, leveraging insights from this community is critical.

Core Pillars of the Updated National Cybersecurity Strategy

According to Walden, the refreshed strategy focuses on “building enduring defenses” by shoring up vulnerabilities and improving resilience when breaches occur. Core tenets include:

• Adopting zero-trust architectures to minimize risk
• Enhancing identity and access management
• Leveraging cloud and container security innovations
• Expanding automation to improve response capabilities
• Building international norms for cyber stability

This approach validates that priorities security teams have focused on — zero trust, identity management, and cloud security — remain integral to national strategy. It also underscores the growing importance of automation and orchestration in connecting defenses.

Expanding the Cybersecurity Workforce Through Training Initiatives

To power its strategic initiatives, the White House recognizes an urgent need to expand the cybersecurity workforce by bringing in new talent and investing more in training and education programs. Some key initiatives announced include:

• The Cybersecurity Talent Initiative will create 20,000+ new cyber degrees and certifications at community colleges and minority-serving universities over two years. This aims to build new pipelines for scaling skills training.
• The Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Program provides paid on-the-job training paired with certifications. 10,000+ apprenticeship opportunities will be created in the next two years.
• New cybersecurity internships and scholarships are being launched focused on high-demand skills like cloud security, zero trust architecture, and data protection.
• Accelerated cybersecurity training is being offered to transitioning veterans through the Career Skills Program.

Implications for Developers Looking to Gain Cybersecurity Experience

For developers seeking to gain cybersecurity skills or transition into security roles, these programs provide expanded pathways. Some ways developers can benefit:

• Gain in-demand experience in secure coding, authentication, threat modeling, and zero-trust concepts. These skills are integral as apps are increasingly critical business assets.
• Develop hands-on expertise in cloud security across infrastructure, storage, and deployment. Cloud experience is a must-have.
• Certifications in areas like secure software development, identity management, and cloud security validate capabilities. Pair certs with hands-on training.
• Apply for cybersecurity internships or apprenticeships to get direct experience and mentorship from professionals while getting paid.
• Consider coursework at community colleges or minority-serving universities taking advantage of the new degree programs.

The expanded cybersecurity curriculum provides avenues for developers to gain skills without pursuing a full degree. Experience implementing real-world security features will be valued.

Implications for Security Professionals Navigating Evolving Threat Landscapes

For cybersecurity professionals, the strategy reaffirms that staying current as threats evolve remains imperative. Some key implications:

• Continue developing expertise in zero trust, multifactor authentication, microsegmentation, DevSecOps, and other emerging paradigms.
• Keep skills sharp in high-value areas like cloud security, containerization, automation, and orchestration. These underpin resilience.
• Expect to mentor junior professionals. New apprenticeship and internship programs will feed fresh talent into security teams.
• Leverage expanded technical training pipelines to hire candidates with cyber degrees from community colleges and fill junior roles.
• Gain management skills to lead projects, speak to business priorities, and communicate security concepts to diverse audiences, including developers and executives.

Overall, experienced security professionals will need to guide and train emerging talent while keeping their own expertise aligned to leading-edge technologies and frameworks like zero trust.

The Future of Cybersecurity Careers

The White House cybersecurity strategy paints an overall bright future for cybersecurity career seekers and veterans alike. As technology continues advancing at a blistering pace, the work of securing systems and data grows in importance and complexity.

There is a strong government commitment to developing cyber talent through creative educational pipelines. For developers, security experts, and aspiring professionals, this translates to expanded career pathways and continuous challenges to hone skills. While threats persist and evolve, those dedicated to mastering cyber defense have tremendous opportunities to make an impact.

Looking Ahead: Emerging Cybersecurity Roles and Responsibilities

The cybersecurity workforce expansion driven by the new national strategy will create demand for some emerging and evolved roles:

• Cloud Security Engineer: As cloud adoption continues accelerating, expertise in securing cloud infrastructure, storage, and deployments becomes critical. Skills in containers, Kubernetes, and infrastructure as code are key.
• DevSecOps Engineer: Integrating security into DevOps pipelines is crucial for managing risk. Skills in secure coding, scanning, and automation tools are required in this role.
• Application Security Engineer: With software critical to business, skills in app security testing, threat modeling, and designing authorization controls are key. Knowledge of mobile security is also valuable.
• Zero Trust Architect: Designing and implementing zero trust architectures requires understanding microsegmentation, multifactor authentication, conditional access policies, and networking.
• Automation Security Engineer: Expertise in security automation, orchestration, and response (SOAR) platforms allows streamlining threat detection and response workflows. Programming skills are a plus.
• Security Data Scientist: Leveraging data science, machine learning, and AI for applications like user behavior analytics, fraud detection, and threat intelligence represents an advanced emerging role.

As technology complexity increases, cybersecurity roles will become more specialized while still requiring broad security knowledge. Soft skills like communication, collaboration, and strategic thinking will be just as crucial as technical expertise.

Ultimately, a passion for continuous learning is vital to keep pace with the evolving threat landscape. There will be no shortage of challenges to solve and innovate for cybersecurity professionals with diverse skill sets and interests. Those entering the field today have an unprecedented opportunity to help build the foundations of enduring cyber defense.