Sen. Cantwell highlights need to develop cybersecurity workforce to meet energy sector’s needs

With 10,000 unfilled cybersecurity positions at electric utilities, and cyber threats to the energy grid and critical infrastructure growing daily, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) recently called for action to reinforce the nation’s cybersecurity.

Cantwell delivered her remarks to energy experts at a symposium focusing on the urgency of cybersecurity preparedness. The symposium also looked at steps being taken by higher education to develop a workforce with the skills a required to fill critical cybersecurity positions in the energy sector.

“Cybersecurity is an issue that keeps me up at night; the grid, its critical infrastructure, and the fact that it is under attack from the Russians and other foreign actors,” Cantwell, the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said. “If we do not make the necessary investments against these cyber attacks, our enemies could succeed in causing a blackout that harm our economy.”

The Pacific Northwest National Lab has reported that its cybersecurity firewall blocks 24 million suspected internet communications, Cantwell said, and 25,000 of them are confirmed cyber attacks.

“With each day, cybersecurity threats to our grid evolve and multiply, and we cannot sit idly by,” Cantwell said. “The only way we are going to effectively combat these security risks is through putting the right people in place. Now is the time for action.”

There are approximately 15,000 cybersecurity positions hanging in the balance across the energy sector. Coupled with the 10,000 unfilled positions, Cantwell said, there are nearly 25,000 unfilled energy security positions across the country.

“The workforce challenge is especially acute in the energy sector, as these positions are more difficult to fill given the relatively specialized knowledge needed to secure industrial control systems, which is different from the standard information technology,” Cantwell said.

Under a bipartisan bill introduced by Cantwell and U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), the chairwoman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the Department of Energy would be required to develop curricula for energy sector cybersecurity. The bill would also direct the department to establish a workforce development board to explore the issue.

“I am so impressed with what the University of Washington’s pioneering cybersecurity program has been able to achieve,” Cantwell said. “Among those efforts, T-Mobile helped ensure that these students are prepared and ready to contribute immediately upon graduation.”