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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.
(Score: 4, Informative) by looorg on Monday August 03 2015, @08:11PM
I have never applied to the FBI. I can admit that I did apply for a position with a similar agency at one point. That process turned out to be such a hassle that I withdrew my application before the process was finished. If you apply for these kind of jobs know that time is a factor, much more so if you don't already have high enough security clearance.
It was eight months of mostly waiting, many phone calls, doing on-line tests (personality traits, verbal skills, spatial awareness etc - I missed the first email about doing these since their email was so poorly formatted it had gotten stuck in the spam filter, they had to call and remind me and ask if I was still interested), supervised tests (same as the on-line once but under supervision and adding a few scenario cases), interviews, talking to recruitment psychologists multiple times, some interviews that felt more like interrogation sessions, talking to other people in the organization (possible future managers and co-workers). The co-workers and managers both seemed like nice but quiet people.
What really put me off from the process was the HR people, I don't think I have ever met more rude and obnoxious people ever before. Their shitty and insulting attitude was the main reason I withdrew my application and I told them so in a letter I sent the day after the last interview I attended. They where very apologetic and almost grovling after that, they even invited me to come back and do more tests and interviews after I had withdrawn my application but it was a bit to late for that for my taste as I had moved on.
The thing that drags this out is the security clearance issues. That takes a lot of time. The one for private sector work is minimal and non-intrusive in comparison. The thing I can conclude about applying for these kind of positions is that it takes a lot of time and patience, when I chose to end the process almost eight months had passed since I sent my application. My best guess is the process would have taken about a year before any actual offer. The fact they are also paying less then the private sector and they are not offering much in the way of perks makes the whole thing less appealing and I can understand why they are having issues with finding the right people.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Thexalon on Monday August 03 2015, @08:25PM
I on the other hand have reason to believe I couldn't pass a security clearance with the FBI even if I wanted to work there. Not because of any criminal activity (there isn't anything more severe than a speeding ticket), but because anyone who looked at all closely at my associations would find out very quickly that I travel in circles of people that include folks targeted by COINTELPRO back in the day, and in some cases are probably still being watched by three-letter agencies.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 03 2015, @08:30PM
I spent some time with the FBI doing just this after completing my third doctorate (the one from Yale). They're pretty uptight at the management level, but the average guy in the office isn't as bad as you'd think. I was only 17 at the time, so I quickly parted ways with them since I was a little too young to properly embrace the culture. I decided to spend a few months backpacking across Russia, and then I finally spent a couple years with Tibetan monks before I went on to work with NASA on a couple of their space projects. I'd be more specific about them, but they're above Top Secret, so I have to be vague.
-MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 03 2015, @08:47PM
Heh I'm assuming this was a joke, but if not, I have to wonder who exactly the FBI thinks they serve sometimes.
I always wanted to work with them from a young age, thinking they were the best of the best, but the more I learned about their willfully ignorant hiring practices the more I decided I wanted to be the kind of person that has a brain.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 03 2015, @08:57PM
Good god man, my sides LOL
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 03 2015, @08:59PM
Yeah it probably is funny if it weren't so close to the truth, and so insulting to american citizens. :P
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 04 2015, @02:07AM
very clever. very clever indeed, young man, but its turtles all the way down!
-MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 03 2015, @08:47PM
The fact they are also paying less then the private sector and they are not offering much in the way of perks makes the whole thing less appealing
What do you mean? You get a gun and get to shoot people. You get to violate people's rights! You get to shit on your fellow human being and be called An American Hero.
What the fuck are you talking about?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 03 2015, @08:59PM
Plus if anyone kills you, even accidentally, they get the death penalty.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Monday August 03 2015, @11:16PM
Once upon a time I was a very patriotic person and wanted very much to help my country. But I had experiences similar to yours with government agencies. I have gone to the end of the process with the CIA and the Foreign Service. In both cases, I did as you did, and withdrew my application.
In the case of the CIA, they were so morally bankrupt and so torpid that I knew it would be a colossally bad idea to put my life in the hands of people like that. Good thing, too. 6 months after I laughed in the face of my interviewer after the nth "dunh dunh dunh! scenario" I saw her picture in the New York Times, picked up by the Russians for spying. She was supposed to be the station chief for Europe and would have been my boss.
The Foreign Service was just as pathetic in a different way. They are the last bastion of the White Man's burden. If you walked into the whitest white country club in the middle of Scarsdale, NY and picked out Brad and Buffy, they would be the ones who represent the United States to the rest of the world. They are so coddled, so entitled, and so entirely unable to relate to real Americans that it hurts your soul.
But the thing to remember is, for all the hassle and demeaning treatment you go through to work for the Federal Government, being earnest and fully well-intentioned to do a good job and help the American people, you still have to report to a bunch of sociopaths called politicians and their appointees who will cut your throat in a heartbeat to make themselves look better or avoid making themselves look bad. The only people who would go through that and remain in government service are shells of men.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Tuesday August 04 2015, @03:02AM
So to get in you have to have seven degrees of separation between you and anyone suspicious?
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek