Mayor Emanuel and DOD Announce Cutting-Edge Cyber Security Training at CCC
Full Description
Mayor
Rahm Emanuel joined officials from the U.S. Department of Defense and City
Colleges of Chicago (CCC) today in announcing a new cyber security training
initiative to prepare students for highly skilled jobs in one of the nation's
fastest growing industries. A city-federal investment will power an intensive,
state of the art pilot program that will train students in cyber security best
practices to prepare them to secure critical computer networks in the public
and private sectors.
The
new cyber security training initiative makes CCC the first and only community
colleges system in the nation to adopt a high-quality training module from the
U.S. military.
"Recent
events on the national and global stage have demonstrated the critical need to
secure our sensitive data and information technology -- in the both the public
and private sectors," said Mayor Emanuel. "That's why the City of
Chicago is partnering with DoD to prepare a highly-skilled workforce by tapping
talent from the Military, Veterans and local students to meet the urgent needs
of the military and employers where thousands of jobs are added in this field
each year."
Recognizing
the urgency of developing expertise and skilled workers in the field of cyber
security, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)has joined CCC to pilot the new
immersive cyber security boot camp this spring, modeled after the intensive,
six-month course prototyped with government personnel at Fort McNair,
Washington, D.C. By forming a partnership with DoD to identify best practices,
CCC will be training civilians and transitioning service members with active
duty personnel on its campuses.
“Our
service men and women know firsthand the urgency and importance of an effective
cyber operations force to meet the critical security needs of our nation,” said
Frank DiGiovanni, Director of Force Training, Office of the Assistant Secretary
of Defense for Readiness at the Department of Defense. “We are bringing the
DoD’s proven method to Chicago to offer the economic hub of the Midwest the
same kind of confidence we've provided on a national scale."
The
first cohort of cyber security apprentices at CCC will be a mix of service
members and civilians. Those completing the boot camp will sit for the
Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) Certification Test-–a highly
sought after credential in the cyber security industry. Completers of this same
boot camp at Fort McNair boast a pass rate of 80 percent, for this very
challenging cyber competency exam.
With
more employers choosing to do business in Chicago, and to keep up with the
demands for the surging technology scene, the addition of new cyber security
training opportunities are more critical now than ever before.
The
total $1.5 million cooperative investment by the City of Chicago and the
Department of Defense is a down payment on both the pilot and the development
of a full-fledged credit-bearing pathway at CCC. Mayor Emanuel will leverage
the federal commitment by investing $1 million from property tax rebate funds
to support the program.
"The
new cyber boot camp builds on our efforts to transform the City Colleges with
industry-aligned instruction to match the jobs that exist today and will
position our students and graduates for careers over the long-term in this
fast-growing field," said CCC Chancellor Cheryl L. Hyman.
Wilbur
Wright College, where the boot camp and developing cyber security pathway will
be housed, is designated as CCC’s Center of Excellence for IT education. Adding
a cyber security focus and boot camp program complements the college’s existing
IT offerings, and will draw upon the campus’ existing infrastructure, as well
as its exclusive partnerships with leading Chicago IT industry partners that
provide students hands-on exposure and internship opportunities. The college
already offers several associate degree and certificate programs in IT that
include computer science, networking systems and technology, web development.
To
engage the highly-skilled cyber security apprentices completing the boot camp,
several of the city’s corporate leaders in the IT industry—including Accenture,
Allstate, Aon, ComEd, Keeper Security and Microsoft—have committed to providing
cybersecurity students with a range of supports, including: internship
opportunities, ongoing mentoring, recruitment and job placement, and to advise
CCC on curriculum development. The City of Chicago will commit to identifying
internship opportunities to meet its own internal IT needs, and to foster a
pipeline that will help boot camp completers connect with jobs in the field
upon certification.
"We
take very seriously our responsibility to maintain the safety and security of
the energy grid that serves 3.8 million customers across northern
Illinois," said Fidel Marquez, Jr., Senior Vice President of Governmental
and Community Affairs at ComEd. "As a local company that regularly
partners with federal, state, and local organizations on emergency preparedness
and cybersecurity, we are proud to support this new training program and we
look forward to working with next generation of cybersecurity experts it will
surely produce."
“There
has been a rise in advanced persistent threats and nation-state cyber activity
over the last decade,” said Scott Charney, corporate vice-president, Microsoft.
“Microsoft invests more than a billion dollars in security and security
research and development every year to help protect customers, and we are
excited to support this program that aims to train students in cyber security to
help make a safer internet.”
As
the City of Chicago continues to prepare for job growth and to meet employer
demands, Mayor Emanuel continues to invest in education and job training
opportunities to not only prepare the next generation for in demand jobs, but
to also assure employers of the quality and preparedness of the workforce.
Opportunities to develop in-demand cyber security and web programming skills
build upon the work by CCC to align its pathways with some of the most rapidly
growing industries.
This
modernization, coupled with closer collaboration with industry leaders and
four-year institutions, and innovative programs like the Star Scholarship, has
led CCC to deliver unprecedented student outcomes and progress toward preparing
more of Chicago’s students for college and career.
Click here to apply to the Cyber Security Training Program through April 8, 2017.