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posted by takyon on Monday August 03 2015, @06:27PM   Printer-friendly
from the blunt-assessment dept.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is struggling to hire computer scientists, according to a Department of Justice audit of the feeb's attempts to implement its Next Generation Cyber Initiative.

A 34-page audit report (PDF) from the DoJ notes that, while making considerable progress, the FBI has "encountered challenges in attracting external participants to its established Cyber Task Forces".

[The audit] bemoaned how hiring and retaining qualified white hats remained a challenge for the FBI, especially when competing private-sector entities pay more and have less invasive recruitment processes. The FBI reportedly did not hire 52 of the 134 computer scientists for which it was authorised, meaning 38 per cent of the workforce it requires (as per budget) is simply not there. This additionally means that five of the FBI's 56 field offices do not have even a single computer scientist assigned to their Cyber Task Force.

Back in 2011, the Office of the Inspector General gave the FBI a thorough scolding over its inability to address America's cyber-intrusion threat, for which it has become the responsible national body. The Next Generation Cyber Initiative was launched in response, essentially as a platform for funding increases in the face of a swelling number of data breaches and cyber-attacks in recent years.

This is not the first mention of the FBI's difficulties in recruiting infosec professionals. Last year, the [FBI]'s director James Comey said the company was re-examining its drugs policy as too many applicants seemed to be enjoying a doobie en route to interview.


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  • (Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Tuesday August 04 2015, @04:12PM

    by Anal Pumpernickel (776) on Tuesday August 04 2015, @04:12PM (#217966)

    apparently you have never actually hired anyone before

    Wrong. I know it's hard for you to imagine not being an authoritarian who uses jobs to control what people do outside of work even if it doesn't affect their performance, but not all employers are that idiotic. I see you ignored most of my comment anyway.

    without employers, you don't have a thriving economy

    Without people willing to accept the jobs, you won't have a thriving economy either.

    if you want some misguided socialist distopia, the USA is actually getting to be a pretty good case study

    The USA is more about corporate welfare and ineffective, weak regulations on corporations than anything else.

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  • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday August 04 2015, @08:57PM

    by Freeman (732) on Tuesday August 04 2015, @08:57PM (#218120) Journal

    The idea behind alcohol and drug testing is to make sure that the employee isn't impaired while on the job. I.E. they are trying to prevent things like this from happening: http://www.bbc.com/news/10454311/ [bbc.com] TL/DR "Drunk trader banned for buying 7 million barrels of oil." I came across this story the other day and found it to be interesting what just one person can do when fiddling with the stock market.

    --
    Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
    • (Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Tuesday August 04 2015, @11:11PM

      by Anal Pumpernickel (776) on Tuesday August 04 2015, @11:11PM (#218201)

      The idea behind alcohol and drug testing is to make sure that the employee isn't impaired while on the job.

      That isn't what's happening. What they're doing is firing anyone who has remote traces of drugs in their system, or not hiring them at all. Interestingly enough, they don't instantly fire people when they learn that they drink alcohol off the job. If they did, chances are, the employer would have to fire themselves. It's just with bogeyman drugs, and it happens whether or not they abuse drugs or come in high. Frankly, drug testing like this shouldn't even be legal, and they should just fire people who do a bad job.

      "Drunk trader banned for buying 7 million barrels of oil." I came across this story the other day and found it to be interesting what just one person can do when fiddling with the stock market.

      Yeah, that's one example, and it's with alcohol. Not something that happens often, and when it does happen, it's usually not that severe. No idea why they gave a single person so much power, either.