Dear Santa, My wish this Christmas is for increased research funding for interdisciplinary cybersecurity research -- most goes to technical innovation and that's important; however, humans are still the weakest link in any cybersecurity system.

As part of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s “Skills for Business” initiative, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is funding the development of a visualization tool that will show the demand for and availability of critical cybersecurity jobs across the nation.

NSF - Josh Pauli, Director of the CyberCorps program at Dakota State University, explains what it takes to train an army of ethical cybersecurity experts.

Third Annual Burning Glass Analysis Finds Signs Problem May Persist...

Boston, July 30, 2015 - American employers have realized the vital importance of cybersecurity and are hiring workers to catch up. However, as employers scramble to build their cybersecurity workforce, a worker shortage is emerging that may require long-term solutions, according to a new labor market analysis by Burning Glass Technologies.

Abstract - Cybersecurity is an emerging profession. It is far too vast and complex to be a specialty area of one of the electronic disciplines. Instead it is a fully defined discipline in-and-of itself. The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) represents a body of knowledge for this new field and in that respect it defines the concepts and practices that are legitimate areas of professional work and workforce education and training. The rationale and the detailed structure of this groundbreaking model are presented here along with how it fits with substantive efforts to ensure the U.S. critical infrastructure.

The Gazette - The U.S. Army Reserve has formed a partnership with eight U.S. colleges and more than 20 defense contractors to train and provide continuing education for reservists who will defend against cyberattacks and hold full-time jobs with the contractors.

Please join us in congratulating the two-time national champion University of Central Florida CCDC team! Way to represent the SECCDC!

HuffPost Business - Diana L. Burley, Ph.D. is an award-winning workplace cybersecurity professor, researcher and consultant who currently serves as a full professor in the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at the George Washington University in Washington, DC. She is a co-author of the well-received Enterprise Software Security: A Confluence of Disciplines (Addison Wesley, 2014).

InformationWeek - This week is Computer Science Education Week, which President Obama kicked off Monday with an Hour of Code at the White House and related announcements, such as a $20 million philanthropic commitment to train 25,000 new computer science teachers for US schools by fall 2016. Of course, the hour of code is somewhat symbolic -- sure, we've all got to start somewhere, but learning will require a longer term approach.

Yesterday afternoon, Vice President Joe Biden welcomed the University of Central Florida's cyber defense team to the White House to congratulate them on their victory in the 2014 National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition.