"Programs within Military Intel Agencies in the US and UK Show Growing Commitment to Neurodiversity"
Embracing neurodiversity could serve as an advantage to the cybersecurity field and help fill the cybersecurity workforce gap. The term "neurodiversity" covers conditions, including autistic spectrum disorders, ADHD, dyslexia, OCD, and other conditions within the neuro-diverse spectra. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) 2021 Federal Workforce Summit highlighted the progress of a new Neurodiverse Federal Workforce pilot program at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). The non-profit agency "Made by Dyslexia" also highlighted how the UK's signals intelligence and information assurance agency actively recruits neurodiverse individuals. The Neurodiverse Federal Workforce pilot program is a collaborative project between the NGA, the R&D non-profit Mitre, and Melwood, a non-profit that helps people with disabilities find employment. Made by Dyslexia strives to develop research, training, and awareness programs to increase understanding of dyslexia, and to create free resources for teachers to level to the playing field. Both the Federal Workforce Summit and Made by Dyslexia showed how neurodiverse people interested in cybersecurity are finding new opportunities to use their unique skills and ways of thinking in the government workforce. They also emphasized the importance of security and cyber teams taking the lead on neurodiversity rather than relying on the HR department to provide instruction. Organizations are encouraged to actively recruit neurodiverse individuals and embrace their unique strengths, as well as to provide training to managers and managers on how to create environments in which neurodiverse people can thrive. Organizations looking to hire more cybersecurity professionals should not overlook the unique talents of those with neurodiverse conditions but instead improve efforts to utilize these talents, alter workplace cultures, and change recruitment processes for such individuals. This article continues to discuss the Neurodiverse Federal Workforce pilot program, the GCHQ's recruitment of dyslexic individuals as spies, and what neurodiverse individuals can offer cybersecurity and intelligence organizations.