@Kaity wrote:
POTUS has just issued an Executive Order calling for increased oversight and development of cybersecurity workforce growth processes. You can read the White House press release here:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-americas-cybersecurity-workforce/
As cybersecurity professionals, what do you think about this EO?
Given the international nature of this community, here are a few points to help understand the context of the order.
1. POTUS is governmental jargon acronym for President of the United States. The general news media began using it (way too much) some years back when they discovered it in various White House and Secret service documents. We now see a jumble of xxxOTUS acronyms in the news (e.g FLOTUS, VPOTUS, SCOTUS, etc.)
2. Executive Orders signed by the President have no force of law. They are all directives that apply only to the departments and agencies under the Executive Branch of the U.S. Federal Government. Each EO is normally based either on direct Presidential authority found in the U.S. Constitution or in Public Law that gives the President some explicit responsibility and authority, as found in the U.S. Code. They do not apply to the U.S. Courts; to the U.S. Congress and its supporting agencies such as the Congressional Budget Office, or the Library of Congress; to any State, Tribal, or local governments; or to any private or commercial entity, including individual citizens, residents, companies, corporations, or not-for-profit entities.
3. In general, every Executive Order direct specific departments and agencies, or sometimes all of them, to carry out specific tasks. In this case, the new EO gives explicit direction to several cabinet Secretaries and their departments: Homeland Security, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Transportation, plus the Office of Management & Budget (OMB) and Personnel Management (OPM).
4. Note that this EO, like many others, will cause the affected departments and agencies to develop directives, policies, and procedures that will directly affect U.S. government employees and companies contracted to those agencies.
I think the most important part of this EO is that it will lead to procedures and partnerships allowing cybersecurity specialists to move back and forth between government jobs and private sector positions without losing momentum in their careers. That could be a very positive result.
