Military Veterans Wanted As Hackers In Cyberwar
In 2005, Kevin Jorge dodged mortar attacks on a military base in Afghanistan. Today, Jorge, a National Guardsman with an IT background, wants to serve on the front lines of a new kind of war -- one being fought with bytes instead of bombs.
Jorge's skills are in high demand. Faced with a shortage of experts to defend the country from online attacks, the government is looking to fill the void by recruiting job-seekers accustomed to physical warfare: returning military veterans.
In January, the Pentagon announced plans to recruit 4,000 more cyber personnel for what former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has called "the battlefield of the future." "Our most important investment is in skilled cyber warriors needed to conduct operations in cyberspace," Panetta said in a speech last fall. State and federal governments are looking for cyber warriors among the growing ranks of military veterans who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and sometimes struggling to find work.
