A Happy Birthday (Uncle Sam) Bundle
Posted by TestOut Staff on
On Monday July 4, the United States of America celebrates its 240th birthday. To the older nations of the world (yeah we’re looking at you, Japan), this may not seem like much of an accomplishment, but 240 years is still 240 years. Americans owe much of our prolonged national existence to the nation’s first-rate national security efforts. National security threats have arisen in many forms over America’s lifetime, but the latest looming danger presents itself online. National security is now heavily reliant on cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity is the protection of information stored on computer programs and networks from unlawful access, transformation or destruction. This is of colossal importance in our day, because large organizations like the government, financial institutions, private corporations, hospitals and the Unites States military all store large amounts of confidential information. In recent years, issues have arisen and proven that greater attention must be paid to protecting this information from attack. So much so that in 2013, our nation’s top intelligence officials named cyberattacks as the top threat to national security.
Cybersecurity knowledge and skills are becoming more valuable by the day, as indicated by the large IT security talent shortage. A recent article on govtechworks.com by Adam Stone states that: “The exact size of the government’s cyber talent shortfall is hard to measure. But industry watchers agree the talent gap is profound and worsening.” Government leaders are lacking the security personnel to meet their demands. This points our attention toward the proper training of aspiring security professionals.
The Department of Defense is looking to upgrade to a new directive to replace the current DoD 8570. This directive will emphasize job skills and experience over rote memorization of IT material. Experience is king in the IT world, and the best way to gain experience while studying for the DoD 8570 is via TestOut Continuing Educations’s simulation-based training.
TestOut CE's DoD bundle features CompTIA A+, Network+ and Security+ training. These certification exams are performance-based, and the easiest way to prepare for them is by practicing. This is what TestOut training provides — real world situations to practice in. This experience based certification training is a means to an end and a way to close the skills gap found in the current government workforce. Do your part in serving your country by becoming an expert in cybersecurity.
About the Author — Jake Slater is the social media manager for GoCertify and a graduate of Brigham Young University. Jake is not 8570 compliant, but he once bundled tots and a Chili Cheese Coney at Sonic.