The U.S. Department of Justice recently released a report showing that cyber-attacks on businesses and government agencies have grown for the past decade. The disappointing part is that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) admitted that it doesn't have enough computer scientists to work on its cybersecurity program. Applicants turn around as soon as they hear of the low pay and the rigorous background check that goes as far back as 10 years ago.
The U.S. government has made cyber-attacks and technology crimes its third priority after counterterrorism and counterintelligence. Last year, the FBI received a $314 million budget for its Next Gen Cyber Initiative to employ 1,333 people. However, the federal agency struggled in filling that headcount as it loses qualified candidates over companies that offer higher pay and less extensive background checks.
The report showed that the FBI is short 52 computer scientists and has five offices that don't have an expert assigned by the Cyber Task Force.
To give you more idea on how rigorous the background checks are, an applicant will not be hired if he or she had used marijuana in the past three years or had used illegal drugs in the past 10 years, according to Reuters.
The FBI is currently looking at the recruitment methods of the NSA and CIA to see how they can attract qualified candidates. It is still uncertain though if they would offer higher pays to match what these agencies offer, Gizmodo reported.
Another challenge seen by the auditor is the FBI's relationship with the private sector, especially on sharing information. Businesses are holding back in sharing their data with the FBI because they feel like they are "sending information in a black hole," not knowing how the data will be used.
The Department of Justice found that the FBI needs to do three things to improve its cyber initiative: recruit more people, work more with the local law enforcement and other external partners, and reach out to the private sector to get more information.
