Cyber security analysts needed

COEUR d'ALENE - The University of Idaho Coeur d'Alene has won a two-year grant from the Idaho Department of Labor to develop a cybersecurity workforce training center.

Valued at more than $231,000 per year, the grant is renewable for a third year.

The funds will support development of curriculum, as well as a laboratory facility. Early in the first year, funds will also support instructors. The program is designed to become self-sustaining as enrollments increase over time.

The program, which also includes structured on-the-job training for participants, will be one of the first of its kind in the country.

An additional feature of the program will include a security operations center lab provided in part by Fatbeam - a broadband services company - at UI's Research Park in Post Falls. The lab will provide hands-on experience for trainees and physically isolated networks for simulated cyberattack response training.

"This program will build on the foundation of excellence in cybersecurity at the university with its Center for Secure and Dependable Systems at the main campus in Moscow," said Karen Thurston, a business development analyst at the Coeur d'Alene center. "As the program attracts corporate clients nationwide due to the value of the training program, it will increase awareness of the region as an ideal location for professional training seminars, and for doing business."

Thurston will direct the program for UI Coeur d'Alene, which will begin offering training in August.

The university partnered with Fatbeam, Idaho Power, Kootenai Health and Highpoint Medical to propose a statewide program offering concentrated short-term training and certification exams to experienced information technology professionals who need additional training to perform security analyst work. The program has the capacity to train nearly 500 students during the first two years, and plans to train and certify workers from Idaho and throughout the nation.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports average annual wages for security analysts are $86,170, which translates to $41.43 hourly. A bachelor's degree in a computer-related field and less than five years of experience are required. The bureau predicts a shortage of security analysts unless the workforce is prepared for this role. An estimated 75,100 security analysts were on the job in 2012, with 27,400 more positions opening through 2022, a 37 percent increase.