Cybersecurity challenges are increasingly making the headlines – ransomware attacks, phishing attacks, identity theft and other cyber incidents are on the rise. Not only are we hearing about these issues, many of us are feeling the impacts. We’re paying more at the gas pump, we’re having to keep closer tabs on our credit profiles and our electronic devices (e.g., computers, phones, tablets, etc.) and we receive what seems like a never-ending stream of updates to patch known flaws.
While technologies exist to adequately secure our systems and infrastructures, identifying shortfalls and hardening these environments requires personnel with the appropriate skillset and mindset to set up - and more importantly - maintain these environments. Ultimately, being vigilant in cybersecurity practices is everyone’s responsibility – system administrators, database administrators, network administrators, and most importantly end users (that’s all of us). All play a vital role in trying to stay ahead of malicious actors.
The cybersecurity discipline itself is a hot career field. Worldwide, there has been a 350% growth in vacant cybersecurity positions over the past decade, with cybersecurity vacancies presently numbering in the millions. The Enterprise Services Center’s (ESC) Cybersecurity Shared Services Center has felt the impact of this highly competitive job market. ESC’s cybersecurity services are in high demand within the federal workforce, necessitating growth to accommodate demand. ESC is a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) vetted Shared Services Provider as well as the only accredited federal Third-Party Assessment Organization (3PAO) under the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP); a program for securing cloud computing environments. To accommodate a continued expansion in cybersecurity services, ESC took proactive steps to help establish a ’pipeline’ of cybersecurity professionals. Several years ago, ESC opened a dialogue with Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC), an accredited academic institution with a National Science Foundation (NSF) approved cybersecurity curriculum. Over time, ESC and OCCC’s interactions blossomed into a full-fledged, collaborative effort. ESC has assisted OCCC with:
This collaboration has paid dividends, with ESC being fortunate to hire several OCCC IT/Cyber graduates. In addition, some ESC personnel have enrolled in OCCC’s cybersecurity program. In June 2021, OCCC recognized the exemplary and successful partnership by bestowing upon ESC Cybersecurity the Oklahoma State Regents Business Partnership Excellence Award for 2021. This award recognizes successful partnerships between higher education institutions and industry, with an aim to cultivate higher education learning.
The Regents Business Partnership Excellence Award is designed to highlight successful partnerships and to further cultivate the higher learning environment through State Regents’ Economic Development Grants. Institutions involved in these partnerships provide $500 in other financial support AND receive a matching $500 State Regents’ Economic Development Grant that is applied to either:
Submissions are provided by the institutions and are reviewed by a committee of State Regents’ staff and the Regents Business Partnership Excellence Award committee to ensure the integrity of the program. Through outside sponsorship, the State Regents provide one plaque of recognition to honor the business partner and institution leaders for their outstanding partnership. They receive the plaque of recognition at a reception that is held in the spring of each year.
Congratulations to the Enterprise Services Center and the many valuable employees within, who go above and beyond to secure our systems!
