josiah dykstra deputy technical director for cybersecurity operations at national security agency nsa usa speaks to education times on why cybersecurity education is criticalwhat has been your experience of working in the still niche field of cyber securitythe field of cyber security has been rapidly growing and evolving for several decades this parallels the development and widespread adoption of digital technology for which threats have emerged and protection is required during my undergraduate education i became fascinated with the challenges and opportunities for protecting digital networks i pursed graduate education and work experiences across the subdisciplines of cyber security including malware analysis and vulnerability analysiswhat will be the role of cyber security in future workplacesalmost everything we do today has a cyber security component to it thats why cyber security education is so critical the demand for skilled cyber security experts in government academia and industry has grown tremendously in the last decade and will continue keeping in view future skilling how can students be skilled in cyber security to be future ready what are the skills requireda solid foundation in stem education is key for all ages nsa sponsors cyberrelated educational programs that help students to develop critical skills and provide realworld experiences in the classroom jointly sponsored by nsa and the national science foundation gencyber camps provides free summer cyber security camps to students and teachers at the k12 level the goals of the programme are to help participants understand safe online behavior and cyber ethics increase interest in cyber security and improve teaching methods for delivering cyber security content how can cyber security be used in economics finance policy and social value creationcyber security is a multidisciplinary domain in my opinion the emergence of cyber insurance requires consideration not only about important aspects of cyber security but also the relevant components of human behavior and economics further researchers are exploring the economic cost of cyber crime criminals target digital assets because there is real or perceived value and therefore strong cyber security provides value in protecting those assets do you think there is a skill gap already when it comes to the demand for professionals in cyber securitythe rate at which cyber security professionals are being created is not keeping up with the rate of growth in the demand for these skills according to industry estimates globally the shortage of cyber security professionals is nearly 3 million international information system security certification consortium 2018 cyber security workforce studya key component to a viable longterm strategy for resolving this shortage is to increase the number of young students k12 interested in pursuing careers in cyber another key aspect is increasing diversity in the cyber workforce as example women represent only 24 percent of the cyber workforce international information system security certification consortium 2018 cyber security workforce studywhat role should educational institutions play in bridging this gapeducational institutions play a tremendous role in educating our cyber security professionals schools begin to educate and excite children about how to use