2nd Annual Virginia Cybersecurity Education Conference

Educating and graduating students that meet the needs of employers is hard. In the cybersecurity field, this challenge is compounded by the emerging and dynamic nature of the field, different needs in different industry segments, and the breadth and depth of skills relevant to cybersecurity. This panel brings together practicing cybersecurity experts from industry and government to discuss specific knowledge and skills they are looking for in graduates today, and how they see these needs changing over time. How important are hard skills like programming and penetration testing? How do CTFs translate to job skills? Do students need hardware and operating systems courses? If so, why? What soft skills are most important? What's missing and how might students and educators fill these gaps in the short and long term? Curriculum designers, faculty, and students will benefit from hearing the needs, opinions, and forecasts of this diverse panel.