The United States knows full well where the best computer hackers are and they're out to get them.
With money.
The U.S. government will provide $8.6 million in scholarship money to 200 students who agree to work for the government as computer security professionals after they earn their degree.
The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Scholarship for Service program was established to encourage students to enter the information security field and help government security efforts.
Students at select universities will receive two years of scholarship money and will agree, in turn, to work for the federal government for two years after graduation. Then they may choose whether or not to continue with the government, or move into the private sector.
"The technical growth has been so fast that security hasn't really caught up with it," said NSF Spokesman Bill Noxon. "It's something we need to address."
Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon, Iowa State, Purdue, the University of Idaho, University of Tulsa and the Naval Postgraduate School will train between 30 and 40 students in the first year of the program. Over the summer, students will have internships with federal agencies.
"This is not something that's limited to any particular agency," Noxon said. "This is a government-wide need."
The chosen schools, designated as Centers of Excellence by the National Security Agency, have been awarded a minimum of $1.4 million each for the program. Congress is funding the scholarships as part of NSF's 2001 budget.
"It's very positive," said Marquis Grove, who runs the Security News Portal. "This is a good way of hooking some very talented people who might otherwise not be able to afford it."
Grove said that the government has had trouble attracting the "cream of the crop" security professionals, so scholarships are a good incentive for those contemplating the field.
Yet another expert was unimpressed.
"That doesn't strike me as being a lot of money," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org."Putting a couple dozen security professionals on the government payroll is a drop in the bucket."
Pike said the problem is not the lack of information systems (IS) professionals; it is more critical to set security standards on commercial vendors that protect trade secrets, intellectual property, and software source code.
"I don't think it's the sort of issue that could be addressed by reallocating personnel," he said.
The Scholarship for Service program grew out of a 1997 presidential commission that investigated IS protection issues. The commission's findings led to a presidential directive that designated computer security as a national priority.
The National Colloquium for Information Systems Security Education –- made up of academics, government and industry representatives -- established the Scholarship for Service program to help students receive the education they need to become information security professionals.
Later this year, NSF will award money for faculty development and training in computer security so they can better serve their students. Other institutions that plan to develop security programs will also receive funding.
