Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | Novermber 13, 2017 | Worcester Business Journal 11 People. Places. Product. Photographic images for advertising, public relations, graphic and corporate communications groups . See the difference. 165 Holly Lane • Holliston, MA 01746 Phone/Fax: 508.429.3188 • www.ronbouleyphoto.com R O N B O U L E Y P H O T O G R A P H Y Cybersecurity is a multi-pronged approach Dozens of large companies and institutions have been the subject of data breaches so far in 2017, including Verizon, Equifax, Whole Foods, Arby's and others. The need for highly skilled cybersecurity experts is apparent, but according to a recent survey by defense contractors Raytheon, only 38 percent of Millennials are more willing to consider a career in cybersecurity than a year ago. When polled online, WBJ readers said virus software was the most common cybersecurity tool, but they commented multiple tools are required. F L A S H P O L L What does your company do to protect its data? COMMENTS: Remove old employee accounts immediately. Require password changes regularly and require them to be complex. 17% Use a firewall and virus protection software. 42% Make electronic and physical backups of important work. 29% 8% "Any company that is only doing one of the above isn't effectively protecting their data and systems. We do all of them." 4% Prohibit personal software and hardware connections to company networks without permission. "Company does all of the above as well a using hardware and software solutions. We are not even allowed to plug in company-provided USB drives to company- provided PCs and laptops." "We do a couple of things, such as require password changes regularly and require them to be complex, and constant backups." Corero Network Security, said compa- nies need to take Provost's approach and partner with college students to raise that career interest. Corero protects hundreds of clients from DDoS attacks, which are intend- ed to take a network offline by over- whelming it with information. Those attacks are increasing, and Corero's cli- ents now report about four DDoS attacks per day, and they've doubled in the last two quarters, Weagle said. With research and development cen- ters in Scotland, Corero works closely with colleges there to attract top talent. Weagle said the company hasn't been the victim of the skills gap. Instead, Weagle called for a larger understanding of the cyber threat land- scape for future young professionals. The Raytheon study found 63 per- cent of global respondents click on links even if they aren't sure if the source of the link is legitimate, and the portion of U.S. young adults who share passwords with non-family members nearly doubled from 23 percent in 2013 to 39 percent in 2017. "Until you're in the working world and seeing this happen on a regular basis, it's not something people are talk- ing about everyday," Weagle said. Millennials, the generation seemingly attached to devices and always plugged in, should represent the new wave of cybersecurity professionals and slow these data breaches, Weagle said. "If a group is to take advantage of that career opportunity, [Millennials] could be the one," Weagle said. Part of the solution Interest in Worcester Polytechnic Institute's cybersecurity program, how- ever, is growing, said Suzanne Mello- Stark, a computer science professor. She's the program manager for Schol- arship for Service, a program funded by the National Science Foundation giving students studying cybersecurity a schol- arship including tuition, stipends and fees in exchange for the student taking summer internships and post-gradua- tion employment with the government. e demand is growing for those government jobs, Mello-Stark said, as there are about 42,000 open cybersecu- rity jobs in government agencies. Interest in that program, she said, has tripled since 2015. In addition to a cyber summer camp funded by the National Security Agency, the WPI's cyber program is rigorous, requiring students to solve real-world cybersecurity problems as part of graduation requirements. "We're trying to be part of that solu- tion here," Mello-Stark said. Stephanie Weagle, vice president of marketing for Corero Network Security in Marlborough W

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