DEFEND

A COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND MUTUAL AID PROGRAM

A new apprenticeship program that puts the cyber security community to work for those in the community in need. DEFEND!

CYBER DEFENSE CENTER is a non-profit (charity) providing cyber defense resources, capabilities, and services to community critical infrastructure organizations.

BATTLE TESTED METHODS

The CYBER DFEFENSE CENTER DEFEND program brings our ASSURANCE, INTELLIGENCE, and RESPONSE services to bear in serving our critical infrastructure and community organizations. In addition, our PROTECTION PARTNERS contribute to assist in the use and adoption of methodologies to improve the DEFEND beneficiary's defense posture. Leveraging these battle-tested methods ensures that our collective defense is working and that we can realign resources for the beneficiary without much disruption to the aid being provided.

DEFENSE GRADE SOLUTIONS

The CYBER DFEFENSE CENTER DEFEND program has aligned the best enterprise and defense grade solutions with our services to the community. Several major security manufacturers offer highly discounted or even free licenses for their software to help community organizations below a certain size benefit from the same technology used in large private and public sector organizations. This represents the difference between free or commercial grade defense and enterprise and military grade defense. The next advantage gained is related to the deployment and management of these improved capabilities. Through our DEFEND and ASCEND programs, we align the best and brightest talent (sometimes the manufacturers themselves) with the deployment and configuration of cyber defense solutions.

COLLECTIVE DEFENSE

PURPOSE

Collective defense allows our members, protection partners, and companies to DEFEND their local and regional communities from cyber threats by offering and providing mutual aid services for defense. Much like the United States Civil Defense system that was created in the 20th century, our collective defense initiative provides an organized, non-military effort to prepare and protect our community from cyber-attacks. The communities that benefit from the DEFEND program are the communities that our members live, work, and thrive.

The CYBER DEFENSE CENTER DEFEND program allows these members the opportunity to give back in a way that only they can. This program allows our members to provide cyber defense services to organizations in need within their community through a unique apprentice program. We provide resources [people], battle-tested methods [process], and defense-grade solutions [technology] to assist in this community defense initiative. We use a unique mutual aid model that pairs a mentor [instructor], subject mater expert [supervisor], and apprentice [learner] to provide a unique training experience while serving community organizations in need. To become a community beneficiary of DEFEND, simply apply for CYBER DEFENSE CENTER DEFEND program mutual aid below, then we help align the resources to help.

RESOURCES

People are now one of our most scarce resources for cyber defense. According to the CyberSeek, a project supported by the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE), a program of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the U.S. Department of Commerce, there are nearly 598,000 vacancies for cyber security jobs in the US with just over 1 million total positions currently filled. This represents a 68% supply/demand ratio in the United States. The largest numbers of vacancies are in the states of Colorado (over 22k), Texas (over 67k), California (over 63k), New York (over 23k), Georgia (nearly 22k), Florida (over 30k), Virginia (over 53k), and Maryland (nearly 22k). Nearly 1/2 of all job vacancies are in 2 of 7 job categories, 1) Operate and Maintain and 2) Securely Provision. This shows that we are still building defense capabilities and that cyber defense technology acquisition, implementation, and operation are in the highest demand.

In this high demand and hyper competitive market, we find that mid-sized and small companies struggle to attract or retain talent. This does not even account for community organizations that cannot afford to compete even though they have an equitable need. To make matters worse, The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected that cyber security roles will remain within the top 10 fastest growing occupations over the next decade, so the demand problem has no near-term end in sight.

Meanwhile, our communities are filled with connected systems subject to major cyber threats without access to the talent or technology to address these. This leaves us all vulnerable. Our residences, our transportation, our schools, our hospitals, our water, our places of worship, our gyms, our food banks, safety and support resources, and community outreach centers cannot compete. Even local and regional government agencies without the budgets to attract this hyper competitive talent are left behind. These organizations are simply not equipped to defend against the advanced cyber threats we collectively face in our modern world. Until now.

DEFEND aligns the best and brightest talent in our communities with companies in need. This mutual aid alignment allows these high demand professionals to give and grow while the community directly benefits. The CYBER DEFENSE CENTER handles and facilitates everything in between to enable these relationships to thrive.

READY TO DEFEND

PARTNERS WITH PURPOSE

CYBER DEFENSE CENTER offers community and critical infrastructure organizations free or low cost cyber defense resources and capabilities that rival the skills and abilities otherwise available to enterprise companies. Our collective defense model allows us to pair an ASEND program learner with a certified trainer and subject matter expert to apply and implement defense principles and practices for participating organizations. The learner is able to earn and learn through our ASEND apprenticeship program and your company becomes a community beneficiary. Your company also serves the community by taking an active role in our unique community defense workforce development programs. Here is what your company receives when you join DEFEND:

1) A dedicated CYBER DEFENSE CENTER certified trainer; and

2) A subject matter expert with your defense needs typically only available to large companies; and

3) a dedicated CYBER DEFENSE CENTER intern or apprentice that is learning cyber security at a local school or is part of our advanced workforce development programs; and

4) Access to the CYBER DEFENSE CENTER service portfolio including our assurance, intelligence, and response services at no additional cost; and

5) Advisory access to other CYBER DEFENSE CENTER experts and trainers as needs arise; and

6) Free or low cost penetration and vulnerability testing services; and

7) Access to CYBER DEFENSE CENTER Secure validate and Fortify certify services; and

8) Discounts on top cyber security training and certifications; and

9) Discounts on third party partner cyber defense services, software, and hardware; and

10) Exposure as a strategic sponsor for regional training and education programs including local schools and universities.

JOIN us today in securing our community. Submit an inquiry today to DEFEND!

Cyber Defense Center

Cyber Defense Center