Politico: Rogers Vows Effort on Cyber Workforce, Small Businesses Breach Defenses

By: Tim Starks
Feb. 20, 2019

New top House Homeland Security Republican Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) told POLITICO today that his top cybersecurity legislative priorities will include boosting the workforce and aiding small and medium-sized businesses.

Rogers said he wants do something to help fill an estimated 300,000 unfilled U.S. cybersecurity jobs in the private sector and government.

“We need to address this shortfall to ensure that we have a workforce equipped and ready to protect us from increasing cyberthreats,” he said in a statement. “I am working on legislation with my fellow committee members to equip our current and future workforce with the skills and knowledge needed to address cybersecurity challenges.”

That effort lines up with similar priorities of Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.), that panel’s top Democrat.

Rogers also said he was alarmed that 58 percent of breaches affected small businesses, and wants to explore ways to deal with the disparities they face compared to larger companies. “We can all appreciate the difference in cybersecurity capabilities of Fortune 500 companies and those of small businesses.”

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