BRCC Partners With Industry to Train the Future of Cybersecurity

Cyberattacks that can drain bank accounts and steal personal data are high on the list of things that keep Virginia business owners and government officials up at night. A University of Maryland study found that hackers launch cyberattacks every 39 seconds.  

The good news? A new generation of local cybersecurity experts born out of an education/business collaboration is fighting back against hackers. An initial GO Virginia grant was awarded in 2018 to Blue Ridge Community College (BRCC) in Augusta County. Since then, a growing number of students have been getting quality cybersecurity training at no or low cost in a three-month program at BRCC.  

“A lot of people don’t realize how inexpensively, and sometimes for free, they can get that education,” said BRCC Dean of Academic Affairs Marlena Jarboe, one of the driving forces behind the program.  

BRCC and local and regional cybersecurity firms are working together to produce qualified candidates to fill roughly 55,000 cybersecurity jobs available in Virginia, according to Dan O’Brien, cybersecurity apprenticeship program manager and instructor at BRCC.  

Partners who rely on BRCC as a talent feeding system and offer career opportunities to its cybersecurity graduates include IT firms and companies such as E-N Computers, Leidos, and Tiber Creek Consulting. These firms stay in close contact with O’Brien, sharing not only job openings, but also keeping the college abreast of up-to-date training requirements and additional certifications that students will need to go beyond basic cyber risk assessments and take on more senior cyber assignments.  

Landing a coveted job aimed at repelling hackers, O’Brien says, requires a solid background in the ABCs of cybersecurity. It also means earning key certifications that show a mastery of core cybersecurity skills, such as CompTIA Security+, and getting acquainted with software used in cyber vulnerability assessments. BRCC’s training checks all those boxes.  

“We teach them the fundamentals — what kind of cyberattacks there are, how to identify attacks, and how to put things in place to prevent attacks,” O’Brien said of students who range from career changers to military vets and underserved populations.  

The final and most critical piece, of course, is on-the job training via apprenticeships and, ultimately, full-time jobs at regional IT firms. Two years ago, Fairfax County-based cybersecurity and IT firm Tiber Creek Consulting set up a remote satellite office in the city of Waynesboro — which provided matching funds and donated a building for use as office space — to take advantage of the talent pool graduating from BRCC’s cybersecurity program. The firm originally hired six students in 2019 and now has 12 on the payroll.  

“It was a natural fit from the very beginning,” said Joshua Foster, cybersecurity operations manager at Tiber Creek Consulting. “We needed them, and they needed us. Each graduate of the BRCC program came to us with an excellent foundation in cybersecurity. Paired with our mentorship, they have continued to grow, delivering quality service offerings in our cybersecurity division.”  

To boost students’ odds of on-the-job success, O’Brien reaches out to prospective employers to learn what specific skills they are looking for and what software expertise is needed. “We are able to tailor the education to exactly what a company needs,” says O’Brien.  

Since its launch in 2018, BRCC’s cybersecurity training program has had 135 graduates, with 76 landing jobs locally in cybersecurity roles, O’Brien said. Another 13 students graduated in April.  

Last year, to help program graduates get the experience needed to land a cyber-related job, BRCC launched an apprenticeship program that places graduates in a one-year paid apprenticeship with business partners.  

“It gets you in the door,” O’Brien said of the apprenticeship setup.