"CISA and Girl Scouts of the USA Strengthen Collaboration to Bring More Young Women into Cybersecurity"
The US Homeland Security Department's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) have announced a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that formalizes their collaboration to close the gender gap in cybersecurity. According to a recent Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) and Cybersecurity Ventures report, women make up only 25 percent of the global cybersecurity workforce, while women compose 51 percent of the population. Without women pursuing cybersecurity careers, the field is missing out on a massive portion of the population's talent pool. In order to address this gap, it is essential that young girls develop an interest in cybersecurity as early as elementary school. CISA and GSUSA have a history of collaboration. In 2017, CISA provided collaboration and guided the development of GSUSA's 18 cybersecurity badges. Girl Scouts have earned over 315,000 cybersecurity badges in less than five years. In addition, in 2021, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and CISA teamed up with CYBER.ORG and GSUSA to create the 2021 Girl Scout Cyber Awareness Challenge in an effort to cultivate the next generation of diverse cybersecurity talent and increase the nation's cyber resilience. This article continues to discuss CISA and GSUSA strengthening the collaboration aimed at increasing cybersecurity interest among young women and bridging the gender gap in cybersecurity.