The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) has published Special Publication 800-181, the NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework, aimed at helping organizations select a workforce capable of meeting their cybersecurity needs.

The publication serves as a reference which provides organizations with a common, consistent lexicon that categorizes and describes cybersecurity work by Category, Specialty Area, and Work Role, according to NIST.” It is a resource from which organizations or sectors can develop additional publications or tools that meet their needs to define or provide guidance on different aspects of workforce development, planning, training, and education,” NIST said.

The NICE Framework improves communication about how to identify, recruit, develop, and retain cybersecurity talent. It is a reference source from which organizations or sectors can develop additional publications or tools that meet their needs to define or provide guidance on different aspects of cybersecurity workforce development, planning, training, and education, stated publication.

NICE Framework is aimed at:

  • Employers – to help define their cybersecurity workforce, identify critical gaps in cybersecurity staffing, and create position descriptions consistent with national language.
  • Current and Future cybersecurity workers – to help explore Tasks and Work Roles and assist with understanding the KSAs that are being valued by employers for in-demand cybersecurity jobs and positions.
  •  Staffing specialists and guidance counselors are also enabled to use the NICE Framework as a resource to support these employees or job seekers.
  • Training and certification providers – to help current and future members of the cybersecurity workforce gain and demonstrate the KSAs.
  • Education providers – to help develop curriculum, certificate or degree programs, and research that cover the KSAs and Tasks described.
  • Technology providers – to identify cybersecurity Work Roles and specific Tasks and KSAs associated with services and hardware or software products they supply

An example of how the NICE Framework can be applied towards the creation of a more standardized approach and common taxonomy for describing cybersecurity careers can be seen through the CyberSeek portal.

CyberSeek, a portal that contains both a heat map and career pathway tool, has just been updated with new data to reflect the current cybersecurity workforce landscape.