“We need people who grew up with technology that was not available when I was growing up, and therefore have a sixth sense about it, which I can never have”, Carter said.
On March 13, 2015 , Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter gave a rather interesting speech to the U.S. Cyber Command Workforce at Fort Meade, Maryland, where he talked briefly about a “new” and “younger” generation of cyber warriors to defend computer networks in the future.
His relevant comments are as follows:
“We need to be open to a new generation because we need the young to be attracted to our mission. We need people who grew up with technology that was not available when I was growing up, and therefore have a sixth sense about it, which I can never have.
And that will be true when even those of you who are now the young people in front of me who are so smugly nodding your head. (Laughter) You, too, will be overcome by new technology at some point. And then also we’ll need a new generation.
So our institution in general has to be an open one because we’re an open society. But in order to be really good at anything, but especially good at what you do, we need to be open to a younger generation. That’s incredibly (inaudible) your leaders know that. I’ve talked to them about that. And we know that that’s the only way we’re going to continue to have an elite core of people like the ones who are sitting in front of me right now.
And, you know, I actually think that in that regard, the development of the cyber workforce, which we are working on now, can be a model for other things we do in the department. The freshness of approach, the constant effort to stay up, reinvent, that your field demands is actually something we can use everywhere in the department.
So we’re looking to you in a sense as a model and a trailblazer for many other things we need in the department. One of the things that I’ve said I’m determined to bring to our department is openness to new ideas. That’s the only way that we’re going to remain what we are today, which is the greatest fighting force the world has ever known. That’s the way to do it going forward. And we — we will.
For — for the institutions that you join, be they military services or field agencies or new — new commands, they are trying to figure out how to welcome this new breed of warrior to their ranks. What’s the right way to do that? How do you fit in?
Source: Defense Department
Monitor cyber attacks live in real time: http://map.ipviking.com/
See related video: Cyber-warriors: The Next Generation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJzjAKU6rRM
See video: Cyber Attacks on U.S. Government on the rise https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ComwSMad6ZA