Veterans and Their Inherent Cybersecurity Preparedness: Myth or Reality?

Increasingly, the cybersecurity job market is lacking in qualified talent. Although lack of available workers with the proper skills is part of it, it is primarily due to the increasing breadth of the cyber domain. To combat this, many companies and government agencies are looking to train combat veterans in the necessary skills to be effective and capable in the domain of cybersecurity. Combat veterans, who have experience with risk and adapting to difficult situations and unknown threats, are believed to be better suited than the civilian population to deal with the threat landscape of cybersecurity. The purpose of the research is to examine this preconceived notion through four overarching research questions: 1. Do combat veterans make better cybersecurity professionals? 2. How much does their experience with risk and threat assessment come into play? 3. Do veterans make better cybersecurity professionals for other reasons? 4. Or is the notion that vets make better cybersecurity professions flawed because the required skills are so technical in nature? As a precursor to a comprehensive study, a large-scale survey was conducted to see what differences, if any, there are between individuals with combat experience and those that do not have such experience. These results are discussed. Future research will employ a mixed methods design consisting of a general survey (phase I) followed by interviews with Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) (phase II), and finally interviews with Veterans and non-veterans (phase III). The phased approach will allow us to make the most efficient use of our time by using the information learned in one phase to help inform subsequent phases. This will result in a richer set of data and more meaningful results.