Job security is literally taking on a new meaning. Domestic security concerns, tied so closely into the nation's reliance on telecom and computers, has opened up tremendous job opportunities for EEs and computer scientists who can design and implement security systems. Sujeet Shenoi, a professor of computer science and a leader of a National Science Foundation-sponsored program to develop security specialists, both at the University of Tulsa, says opportunities for those trained in information security are "unbelievable." Tulsa is one of about 12 universities supported by NSF grants to produce security experts—a "Cyber Corps"—as a first line of defense in the U.S. against terrorists and Internet hackers.
Online job sites are logging an increasing number of listings for information security slots. Monster.com posted more than 60 security-related design engineering positions in March/April. Dice.com has run several listings for communications security (COMSEC), information security (INFOSEC), computer security (COMPUSEC), and software security engineers and architects.
Aerotek, a contract engineering firm, said it was "looking for a system engineer to help develop front-end communications security." APR Consulting was seeking a software specialist to develop a Microsoft-centric version of its client's enterprise security architecture. "The ability to deal with ambiguity" is high on the list of APR's requirements for the job. Computer Science Corp. put out a call for an INFOSEC specialist with a BSEE and experience in system security analysis and implementation.
Trade groups, like the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium or (ISC)2, which focus on training and certifying information security professionals worldwide, are currently posting listings for senior IT security engineers, network security engineers and analysts, and network design consultants by field of interest (i.e., military/government, banking/accounting, manufacturing).
Amer Haider, head of strategic marketing at Cavium Networks, a semiconductor company that produces network security processors, says there's a clear requirement for hard-core researchers in cryptography development and protocol development. "Hardware design guys making the boxes that will push secure traffic performance, chip guys who build the fast processors, like us, the embedded software guys who implement protocols in applications, and the application guys who write Web-server applications are all in demand," he says.
Wireless growth, particularly with the recent introduction of Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) Interoperability testing for IEEE 802.11 wireless local-area networking products and Bluetooth, has created its own opportunities. As stated in a recent report from Gartner Inc., a market research and technology advisory firm, "Security flaws and interoperability problems will make Bluetooth-enabled devices inadequate for use without additional spending to correct the problem areas."
But Shenoi says the nation's basic telephone is the major concern of homeland security officials. "There are a lot of openings in SS7 [Signalling System 7], the core network," he says.
Shenoi is placing most of his graduates at federal government agencies, mainly the NSA, the FBI, NASA, the Air Force and Army, and the Commerce Department. "Practically all of these positions require designing security systems," Shenoi says. On the commercial side, he notes, the biggest opportunities lie with telecom companies, followed by Internet service providers, management consulting firms, and companies like Cisco, Microsoft, and Oracle.
Corporate-level information technology positions are also available and changing. David Cullinane, chief information security officer at Washington Mutual, a Seattle-based bank, says, "The field is much more technical now and requires information security-specific training, preferably with an advanced degree."
The reality is that this is another waste of taxpayer money. A terrorist with a handgranade can do alot more damage at an oil refinery.
Any cyber-terror will result in nuisance. Threat multiplier? Right. The concept of terrorism undermines the notion of using cyber.
Anonymous -April 29, 2005
All the hullabaloo about information security seems predictably but unfortunately exclusively centered on the threats to the internals of information systems.
Suppose 100 dedicated terrorists spent a month or two mining as many of the cell-phone towers/antennas that they could find in this country. Then, on a given day at a given hour, the calls are sent out, slightly encoded to avoid the premature consequences of a confounded telemarketer calling one of the mines. Presto, within a few minutes, much of the telephone and related communications are lost across the nation. What's more, as time goes on and more and more copper is abandoned, the threat grows worse and worse.
Is anybody worrying about this one?
Here is another one: think of the damage a terrorist within Microsoft could do in a few years (or has done.
Allen N Wollscheidt -August 07, 2003
Your Comments:
Enter the text from the image below
Please refresh the page if you have trouble reading this text.
Search Electronic Design
Web Seminar
Sponsored By:
Title: Read Pacing: A Performance Enhancing Feature of PCI Express Gen 2 Switch Devices
Reprints
