Neurodiversity in Cybersecurity - NFAR

1:19

Excellent thanks, Lisa.

1:21

Great, thank you. It's always a pleasure to tag team with our friends at NFAR and Nathan, thank you for having us. So I represent San Diego Cyber Center of Excellence. And we're a nonprofit that focuses on regional planning and program implementation that really looks at workforce development, economic development, as well as infrastructure challenges. And we do this through collaboration between industry, academia, and government agencies. So we strive to develop best practices and templates that can be piloted either industry by industry, or scaled to the city, state or federal level. And it's really for the key role of seeding the talent pipeline, driving innovation and protecting our nation's infrastructure.

1:59

Wow, that is incredible. Okay, let's dive in. The steep global competition for cyber talent means that employers will need to diversify their talent strategies to heed the ever evolving threat landscape. How does Neurodiversity help bridge that gap?

2:18

Well, I'll start with this one. If you don't mind, Nathan. There are a lot of traits that people like to speak about when talking about the benefits of hiring more people with Autism, especially in technology. And those things are the ability to hyper focus and a strong attention to detail. It, you know, innovative thought processes, a higher efficiency and a lower with a lower rate of error. And all of these things are true. And we have have seen evidence of them time and time again with candidates that are in our NFAR tech program, our existing training program. But there's also a trait that I think people with Autism share, that is going to make them uniquely suited to Cybersecurity. And that I'd like to it's a little harder to describe describe than some of the other ones. But it's, it's bottoms up thinking. And if if I were to describe that typical thinkers like Lisa and myself, we were like, we think from the top down, we make mental shortcuts. So when we encounter a piece of information, we kind of file it into our mental memory banks. And then if we see it, again, we just go there and recall what we've learned from it before. people with Autism don't tend to do that. When they see information, they process each detail individually, and then make decisions accordingly. And so what that's really going to enable the participants of this program that we're working on, and what's why I think that people with Autism are really going to set themselves apart in Cybersecurity is that they're going to be able to uncover those errors and see things that typical, you know, Cybersecurity analysts might glance over might, you know, look at and not see what's right in front of them, but that it's easy to take that mental shortcut on. So this is one of those things, you know, people could refer to it as a strong attention to detail, but it's more than that. It's really this bottoms up, ability to think and to spot those those really important details that are so crucial to our Cybersecurity efforts. We've seen it in, in software testing, which is what our NFAR training program trains to. Some of our testers say that they can spot errors in like pages of code, like it's standing out in neon, and they don't understand why typical people don't see these things. These are the traits that I think are going to make people with Autism, really very beneficial in the Cybersecurity industry. And we're excited to be helping more people with Autism really hone those skills so that they can have careers in Cybersecurity.

4:46

Yeah, and we're very excited because this is an untapped resource for the industry. Given the barriers associated with traditional recruiting and hiring practices. Unfortunately, those that are Neurodiverse have not necessarily made it through to some of these employers that really need to open the aperture and this is an incredible talent base and an industry that is now cresting over 3.5 million on the global level and, you know, seats available within cybersecurity and unfilled jobs in the industry in the US alone. So there's a lot of opportunity.

5:23

Absolutely. That's really wonderful. Chelsea, can you talk more about the success of NFAR Tech and how the idea for NFAR came about?

5:35

And that really came about in: 2013

7:14

It's one of these being totally humble here. NFAR tech boasts 86% professional placement rates for graduates, which is better than a lot of, you know, kind of traditional placement agencies. And they've had over 100 students in the last five years placed in these entry level roles. And they're working with industry leaders like Qualcomm and Solar Turbines. So when we started having discussions about the development of NFAR Cyber, San Diego Cyber leaders really jumped at this chance.

7:40

And I do have to say that there's been synergy with NFAR and CCOE right from the very beginning, you know, unlike some other conversations we've had with companies where we've really had to invest a lot of time into making the business case for hiring more people with Autism. When I approached Lisa and CCOE, as well as the other Cyber leaders that we've worked with on the development of the pilot, they were really able to see the benefit and appreciate what bringing on more people with Autism and training them to do Cybersecurity work, what that could do. And so it's, it's really has been a great partnership, and we're excited to be getting this program launched.

8:15

Wow, that is incredible. Lisa, what what role did San Diego's Cyber leaders play in the development of NFAR?

8:23

Well, after the initial discussions and introduction, with NFR, we, our leaders really wanted to move forward quickly on a program and we were able to convene kind of what we call our Think Tank, when we brought together the industry both on the commercial and defense side, as well as representatives from academia, critical infrastructure, as well as military and government to help us guide the program scope, the training curriculum and the skills development. And so over the last year, even during the pandemic, this group has met monthly to really create a robust program, including the integration of Haiku, which is an interactive Cyber simulator, really fun, cool, cyberpunk environment to help not just from a training tool, but also to help us provide kind of a skills assessment and an interest assessment for these candidates to be able to kind of really start to hone in on where their interests lie and where some of their strengths might be. And then it also helped to define what the curriculum would look like throughout the program. One of the other really cool parts of our think tank was that we were able to bring in the NFAR tech grads and some of those that are already in the program to get their input into the design to help really ensure optimal student experience. So now, the industry is leaning in to host the first cohort of the NFAR Cyber grads and really we're looking to begin from the NFAR tech program almost like a master's program. So I know I'll leave all of the exciting details to Chelsea to kind of talk about the program but I will say the industry has been incredible and really helping guide to make sure that we're going to meet their needs, as well as the needs of the candidate.

10:00

Excellent. Chelsea?

10:06

Yeah, sorry, Nathan, I will. Let me tell you a little bit more about what we are envisioning for the NFAR Cyber program, it is going to be a vocational technical training program, specifically for people with Autism in order to develop their cognitive exceptionalities to really help them enter into an entry level role in Cybersecurity. We're intending it to be a nine month training program, and it is going to build upon the you know, our existing NFAR tech program, as Lisa said, we're thinking of it like a you know, a continuation of their education as like you would think of a master's degree. The curriculum, the foundational knowledge, we're going to be using a curriculum called Test Out. And we're going to be doing both the A+, Network+, and Security+ curriculum with that focusing on core units that we have identified as being essential to this type of a role. And we've were able to do that thank you to our industry partners who have participated with this Think Tank who were able to give us their insight into what they are looking for as far as that foundational knowledge. But what's really unique about this program, and what I'm excited about it is that we are lining up our corporate hiring partners in advance, these are companies who are who are putting their hands up to say that there they are going to be interested in hiring graduates. And once they've completed their training, and why we're doing this on the front end is that we really want to be able to partner with these companies in order to customize the type of training that they're receiving throughout the course of the program. Because we understand that each company approaches Cybersecurity differently. And this is, this has been different than what we've experienced in software testing, where it's pretty standardized approach throughout the technology companies. So we were able to offer a pretty standardized curriculum. We want to do something different with this and really customize the type of training people are receiving to make sure that they are really ready to be effective from day one, once they graduate. And then at the completion of the program, like I said, each participant is going to be placed in a professional paid internship with one of these companies, we really prefer that the internship model, we think it works really well as a way to give companies the opportunity to kind of try before you buy to experience the benefits that hiring one of our graduates can bring to their company. And so in order to do that, and we really, we also provide support to the companies to make sure that they have all the resources and training that they need to really create a truly Neuro inclusive environment for all of the graduates that they bring on.

12:40

And what's so cool about this, too, is it's really flexible. And it allows, you know, customization with employers, which includes virtual options in our post pandemic environment. And I think one of the really interesting things to that, as far as kind of found through NFAR tech is the idea of placing folks in pairs so that they have kind of a tag team and an environment as well, where they have others within the group that you know, have similar cognitive exceptionalities. So they're they're not the only one in the in the group.

13:12

Well, that's great. Chelsea, so how does the training. Sorry. Wow, that that sounds really incredible. Okay, tell me more about how NFAR cyber will address the different learning styles that are characteristic of those with Autism?

13:29

Sure. And actually, Lisa just mentioned one thing. So through our experiences, and for tech, we have developed a lot of learnings about what works best and what really helps people with Autism to be successful. And one of those things like Lisa mentioned, is we do encourage companies to hire our graduates in pairs. You know, who who doesn't want a wing man, when they start a new job, we found that that really helps to reduce the anxiety and make for a smoother on ramp when our graduates end up transitioning into the workforce. And we do similar things throughout the training that things that we just know are better for people with Autism. One of those is that all of the foundational knowledge that they will be learning through the IT the Test Out IT program will also be reinforced with with hands on real world practical application so that they can contextualize the material they're learning and understand how that's going to come to play in the day to day activities that they'll be expected to do on the job. Another thing we do differently that, you know, unlike the fast pace that you might find in like a code school boot camp, NFAR Cyber is taught with concept repetition to make sure that every participant really masters each concept. And we also do as Lisa mentioned, we are planning on really making sure that we can do some interest and skill based specialization. You know, we expect that we're going to have individuals that are going to be very good at say analyzing information found in logs and finding discrepancies, whereas others might be really do better at the white hat hacking or Something along those lines, we want to give our participants the opportunity to really find those areas where they excel and be able to become specialists in those areas. Another thing that I really wanted to highlight that I think is important about this program, like our NFAR tech program is that it doesn't require a four year degree. There are so many people with Autism that have a really high aptitude and interest for technology, but who've been locked out of entering into careers in the tech industry, because they aren't able to check that four year degree box. So as you probably know, Nathan, I mean, right now, I think it's only about 25% of people with Autism who go on to college, even fewer actually get their degrees. You know, many because they've had bad experience in school, or just because the university system really isn't set up for them. So we want to make sure that a college degree isn't a barrier to participating in the NFAR Cyber program, we want everyone with an interest to be able to participate, whether they have a degree in STEM or something else or without. Oh, and another thing, I almost forgot, Lisa, you want to tell us a little bit more about our exciting new tool that we're using compliments of CCOE. That's really going to help us remember that specialization.

16:13

Yeah, so we kind of like a foreshadowed event, we are partnered with a fabulous organization by the name of Sentech, who have created the Haiku Cyber range. And what this is, is something that's actually available to the public, to be able to go in and kind of go through what they call dojos, to learn from a very basic level, and then apply those skill sets into real world missions that are in this kind of really cool cyberpunk realm that ultimately kind of walks you piece by piece through the ethical hacking program.

16:47

And so this is something that we're hearing a lot from industry as well, where even, you know, traditional candidates that are getting, you know, either two or four year or even master's programs that really don't have a whole lot of hands on experience in Cyber. They're looking for these types of work based learning opportunities for individuals to really kind of get their their hands dirty. And so this is something that we're going to use from the get go. As we've discussed, not just from the training perspective, this will this will complement the curriculum, and provide some real hands on training, but it will also help to figure out what where are the interests lie? What what really gets you excited, when you're kind of playing this game, there are certain skills and techniques that an individual might really kind of gravitate towards that then the NFR team can really help train and enhance those skill sets. So we're really excited about this tool. I know Chelsea, you've had some really fun times playing that part of a beta test.

16:47

So yeah, I have to tell you, I've been demoing Haiku for use in the program and having the best time. So I learned very quickly that I have to only log on at the end of my work day. Because I did log on earlier and found out that I was spending hours on the program. I was getting sucked into infiltrating servers and decoding encrypted emails. So it's it really is a fabulous tool, we're excited to have the opportunity to be able to use it for NFAR Cyber.

18:13

That's incredible. And I really liked how you talked about the about the college degree being a barrier, that is a huge barrier for a lot of people. And as a lot people know, in it and Cyber world, the experience and the hands on learning, it does carry a lot more weight anyway. Next, historically, companies have shied away from hiring Neurodiverse individuals, in the same way as they do with hiring people with disabilities. How is NFAR Cyber hoping to change that?

18:51

I think if you don't mind, Chelsea, I'll kind of jump in just from the industry perspective. As I mentioned, this is an industry that has a global shortfall of cyber workers. And they have had a lot of challenge, really trying to kind of fill that pipeline. And so you're seeing an opening of the aperture and not just those with Neurodiversity, but also women and underrepresented populations. I mean, this is time now to open this aperture because only about 20% of the Cyber population is made up of those really unique individuals that we need. Because Cybersecurity, at its core, is really a ever evolving threat that requires critical thinking and the ability to act under pressure, and enjoy being able to kind of look at things that are the anomalies and to be able to look at things that are repetitive and to be able to kind of see patterns and to be able to also then kind of project that out into the larger business strategy. And I think being able to kind of bring in this different approach to really kind of looking at the threat is going to be something that really helps the industry and again, helps to open the aperture from the talent pipeline perspective, because as of now, if we only look at the traditional pipelines, we are looking at a deficit over 3.5 million people worldwide. And it will only continue to grow in this post pandemic world where unfortunately, bad actors have taken the opportunity to, as we've seen so many more attacks. So much, unfortunately, with having everyone working and schooling from home, so much opportunity for bad actors to continue to kind of find these openings. And so this this is luckily for those in Cybersecurity, the silver lining and all of it is it is job security, and opportunity for those that are looking to really jump into a field that is quite high paying, and has a lot of opportunity for upward trajectory. So I know Chelsea, you have some additional thoughts on kind of how that social equity issue plays into our program.

20:52

Absolutely. Lisa, and Nathan you're right. Disability and Autism hiring, it's, it's hard, it's very difficult. And we haven't seen much improvement and in really driving down the astronomical Autism unemployment rate in the past five years. And that's despite all the buzz coming from companies like Microsoft and SAP and they who have launched some really successful Autism at work programs. I think that that's, you know, there are several reasons for this. But it really comes down to I think, risk. I think companies, you know, naturally are very risk averse. And unfortunately, there's a misconception that hiring a person with a disability or a person with Autism is inherently inherently riskier than hiring a typical candidate. So at NFAR, what we really do is try to do every week thing we can to reduce that, that feeling of risk. And one of the ways that we do that we already mentioned was by encouraging internship as the model for the hiring engagement, we really find that that of one a lot of companies already have internship programs in place. So it's an easy way to secure some headcount for this type of for hiring our graduates, but also it gives kind of a start and a finish date. And an easy like we said try before you buy. What we have found, though, is that typically once almost without exception, once our companies do hire our graduates, and do see how much they can bring to the company and what the their cognitive differences have to offer, and how their teams are actually just better by including candidates with Autism, then they tend to convert those positions into full time engagements, and to want to hire more people with Autism. So it creates kind of a waterfall effect that we're really excited to be able to see. The other thing that we do is we want to make sure companies have what they need to successfully support their autistic candidates. So that's why we come in. And we do offer inclusion training for the entire team that will be hosting one of our graduates as well as management, specific training. And as you probably know, Nathan, it's it's been shown that managers who go through this type of Autism, management training just become better managers for all of their people. So by making sure that all those support systems are in place that people know that they have have the training that they need, and that they can create that Autism friendly environment, and that they also have us there for ongoing support, if any questions or issues tend to arise, does seem to help make them more comfortable and realize that they can hire up to candidates as readily and successfully as that they, as they can hire, hire any candidate. But the other thing I did want to point out, and Lisa, you mentioned social equity, as we have been seeing some really exciting trends. And I was very worried at the start of the pandemic that that be, you know, with the resulting economic downturn that we would really lose some of the momentum that we had gained in Autism hiring. But in fact, the reverse seems to be happening. And that is really a big result of the conversations that we've been having as a society about, you know, systemic, racial prejudice and how to create more opportunities for those on the margins. And all of a sudden, this has led to companies wanting to not just include people of different races, but to include all people who have been historically underrepresented. So in the last six months, I have had more conversations and more speaking engagements with companies than I have in the past two years before that. All about how they can hire more people with Autism, how they can increase their Neurodiverse representation. So I think this is a really exciting exciting trend and something that is only going to benefit not just people with Autism, but all those with disabilities and it's and it's really going to help the Cybersecurity industry as well meet their their incredible needs for good talent.

24:46

Wow, that is incredible. I can see why companies will want to get involved with NFAR Cyber, but what about NFAR participants? I know the pilot has not started yet, but can you share some individual success stories from your NFAR tech program and what you what people can expect, the benefits will be for NFAR Cyber participants.

25:09

Absolutely, we have got some great stories. So I'm really glad you asked. And what I read, one of my best parts of my job is being able to tell managers and companies when they make a commitment to hire our grads, I literally get to say to them, you know, I don't know if you know this, but today, you just changed a life. Because it is truly has the ability to change the trajectory of a person with Autism's life. I mean, we have had participants in our program. I've had someone with Autism who had a Computer Science degree who was unable to get a job after graduation. And he went to another disability employment agency for help. And the only position they could find him was sorting clothes at a Goodwill store. So that was what he was doing before he came to NFAR tech. And now he's working in an IT role, actually, with a company that he's been at for the last year. So I mean, to say this is life changing is not just hyperbole, it is actually true. Another example, we had a gentleman right before the pandemic, and we all started working from home. He stopped by our end for our NFAR offices, he said he was just stopping by to say hi, car keys in hand, big smile on his face. And I said, Well, that's great. It's good to see you. And he just stood there smiling. And I, you know, I couldn't figure it out. And I said, well, so what's going on, and he's shaped his car keys. And he's like, well, I bought a car. And I had forgotten that prior to, when he was coming to NFAR. He was actually taking public transportation to get to NFAR, because he was one of many people with Autism who choose not to drive. And then he went, and he started working for a company as a software tester. And he met somebody, he was a co worker who offered to teach them how to drive. And so that colleague taught him how to drive and from that he was able to get his driver's license. And then with his paycheck, he bought his first car. And that was incredible for him. And he's, he's still talks about it to this day. And he's very proud of that. We had another woman who was in our program. And I got a call from her, her mother, actually, after she was hired with a fortune 100 company, as a software tester. She did have a college degree as an engineer as well, but hadn't been able to find a job for five years, she had been looking before she came to NFAR tech. And through NFAR tech, she did get this role with this. You know, it was a very generous compensation package for an entry level software tester. Her mother called me crying because she was now making more than her mom was, and her mom never thought that was going to be possible, she thought that she was going to be supporting her, you know, probably for the rest of her life. And then we have every year, you know, every single year, we get donations from graduates who have gone through our program, who just want to give back who now that they have their own paycheck and are making their own money. They want to do something to help other people who have the same kinds of opportunities. And those I have to say are the donations that probably mean the most to me. So we have a lot of great stories coming out of NFAR tech. We are looking forward to it. Hopefully we can come back maybe next year and share with you some more success stories that we have. Now that NFAR Cyber is getting ready to move forward.

28:24

Wow, that's incredible Chelsea. So the biggest question of all now is how can potential students and employers get involved in NFAR tech and cyber?

28:34

That's a great question. Glenn. Asked me, Nathan. Yeah. So we are now currently accepting applications for NFAR Cyber, we're hoping to get kicked off the training in the next few months here. So for anyone who's interested, I encourage you to please visit our website at nfar.org. And there is an interest list there on the homepage that you can fill out. And then we will reach back out to you to get more information and to put it in to get you signed up on the interest list. We're also looking for corporate hiring partners. As I mentioned, we are trying to line up I think we're looking for what is it six now Lisa are?

29:12

Yeah. And that's just for Cohort One, we're very optimistic that this is going to continue and are starting to actually start looking at Cohort Two as well. So for any organization that would like to get involved or learn more, please visit and nfar.org for additional information.

29:28

Absolutely. And we're also if you want to just support the program and our efforts to launch NFAR Cyber and also just to create more meaningful employment opportunities for people with Autism. We're actually getting ready to have our big annual fundraiser, which is the race for Autism that we do every year. This year, it is going to be a virtual race for Autism, which we're excited about because it's going to give people the opportunity to participate, you know, all across the country and around the world. So if you want to get involved with us that way, and it's superhero themed, so we'd like to say and be a superhero for those with Autism, then check out raceforautism.org.

30:04

And my son's are so excited, they still have their capes from last year and run around with them all the time for being superheroes for Autism. So highly recommend folks get involved. It's really fun. It's a great opportunity too for corporate teams. And there's also sponsorship opportunities, if you'd like to sponsor particular student scholarships, so, lots of different ways to get engaged. And we also have additional information on CCOE's website at sdccoe.org for additional resources about this program as well as other cybersecurity resources.

30:32

Wow, that is incredible. As for myself, I myself am actually Autistic. I just wish they had these kind of resources and programs when I was going through going through school, it would have helped. Okay, and overall, that was an incredible program overview. Thank you, Chelsea and Lisa, for your time today and appreciate the time. Take care.

30:58

Thank you so much for having us.

30:59

Thanks Nathan.