Article: Retired Cops to fill Cybersecurity Jobs

billDFW

March 13, 2016

Forbes Welcome

This fictitious candidate is looking for a cybersecurity job: 43-year-old recently retired NYPD officer with a bachelors degree in criminal justice, 20-plus years experience hunting down and catching criminals, a passion to protect and serve fellow citizens, good computer skills and aptitude, and eager to cross-over to a career in cybersecurity.


Can retiring police officers become cybersecurity’s unlikely heroes?


There are one million cybersecurity job openings in 2016, and that number is expected to grow by an another half-million jobs by 2019.


Juniper Research recently predicted that the rapid digitization of consumers’ lives and enterprise records will increase the cost of data breaches to $2.1 trillion globally by 2019, increasing to almost four times the estimated cost of breaches in 2015.


A severe cybersecurity labor shortage and a massive cybercrime wave have corporations and governments scrambling to fill cybersecurity positions. Where will the candidates come from?


Retiring police officers are educated (many have college degrees — and all have extensive on-the-job training), typically in their early 40′s (for those who became cops in their early 20′s and retired after twenty-years), they understand the criminal mentality, and they have a knack for cat-and-mouse play – good experience to help catch hackers.


Of course not all retiring police officers are looking into new careers. But the ones who are may be excellent candidates. Sergeants and lieutenants bring excellent managerial skills for positions that involve recruiting and overseeing others. Detectives bring additional investigative and forensics experience to the table.


Dario Forte spent 15 years as a police officer in Italy working in various crime enforcement squads involved with drug enforcement, organized crime, and anti-fraud. He crossed over to the IT field — initially working as an IT analyst and then editor for an Italian IT and security magazine. In 2003 Forte started up DFLabs, a cyber incident and response firm – which has become a well respected name in the industry. His team is often called on to investigate serious data breaches at corporations and governments globally.
“Ex-police officers have, in many cases, superior investigation and response attitudes — and they’ve developed reactive and proactive skills in their past life, along with the capability of thinking laterally” says Forte. “There are a lot of opportunities for ex-cops in the world of cyber. The critical factor is the technical skills to be developed in order to get the job. Being a former police officer is a plus, but being technically skilled is a must” adds Forte. He recommends the book Cybercrime in Progress: Theory and prevention of technology-enabled offenses by Thomas J. Holt and Adam M. Mossler to cops interested in cybersecurity.


How can corporations and governments tap into the corps of retiring cops? They can list jobs singling out ex-officers who may be looking into new careers, but not thinking about cyber. Employers can also contact local police departments to get the word out that they are interested in talking with retiring officers. There are organizations including the National Association of Retired Police Officers (NARPO) — which represents 86,000 retired cops — and may be a conduit to an experienced labor pool.


One other point for employers to consider about retired police officers — they have pensions with benefits. That means candidates with financial cushions who may not demand top pay — and potential part-timers for small to mid-sized businesses looking to keep their costs under control.


It’s not always obvious how to solve a problem. In this case, call the cops!

Comments ?

Priston

I think the writer must have ran out of things to write about. If a cop has a real passion for technology and computers, yes I'm sure they could transition into cyber security if they really wanted to. If they don't have a passion for technology and computers, then it's not even worth thinking about the idea.

the_Grinch

I can speak to this (former law enforcement) and currently work cyber investigations for a State agency. I have to agree the writer must have ran out of things to write about. I've worked with other agencies and you can tell who is an IT guy that became a police officer/detective and who was a police officer/detective who got saddled with the job. Why is someone saddled with the job? Typically because law enforcement agencies (and most government agencies) have a very hard time recruiting IT people. How do you get someone with a four year IT degree who could make up to 100k in the private sector to take a job making $40 to $50k a year (if you're lucky)? Also adding needing to be in shape, passing a background check and risking your life.

Now if they were able to get an IT grad they spent tens of thousands to train him (academy and then all types of security training) and then he goes to the private sector because now he's really worth a lot. Thus they grab someone who's willing to make the move (typically by offering a promotion) and is vested in the pension then send him/her to the training. Gets the job done, but easy to get in above your head.

I will say having the soft skills that comes with being a police officer is definitely an asset. Report writing, knowing how to do an investigation, interviewing (big one) and knowing how to deal with people in various states are all great things. But if you need someone to think outside of the box and pick up new technical concepts quickly you'll have issues if they weren't technical before becoming a police officer.