Navy Looks to Secure NextGen Cyber Warriors Through NROTC Scholarships

The U.S. Navy is looking to enhance its current cybersecurity capabilities by granting scholarships to the top twenty percent of contestants competing in the U.S. Cyber Challenge, a cyber war game sponsored by the SANS Institute and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The goal of the war game is to connect participants with training and mentoring opportunities with government, military and industry leaders.

The Navy plans to grant five four-year scholarships to the top contestants who are also eligible to participate in the Navy ROTC program. Students will be trained as InfoWarfare officers or Cyber Warfare Engineers upon graduation.

“We recognized early on that there’s a need in the evolving and changing nature of warfare,” said Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Mark Ferguson. “Many of us at our age are digital immigrants, and we need digital natives.”

At present, there are 44,000 positions relating to cybersecurity with the Navy. Many experts bemoan the dearth of skilled cyber professionals in the U.S.

“We as a nation can’t use our superiority and weapons if we don’t control the computers because the computers fire the weapons,” said Alan Paller, director of cyber-research at SANS Institute. “Because we are more computerized than other countries, we are more vulnerable than others.”

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