The shortages of cyber warriors are driving Militaries to recruit geek armies to complement their cyber force.

The incidents of cyberwarfare are ever increasing, targeting more and more countries and becoming legitimate. Part of the Ukrainian power grid was attacked by hackers, causing blackouts; US accused Iranians of attempting to hack into the control-system of a dam.  Russia was also suspected for cyber-attack on Turkey following the downing of a Russian fighter jet late last year. The US Government itself has announced to have launched a series of cyber-attacks against the Islamic State coordinated by the Cyber Command.

US and other countries including U.K., China, Russia, North & South Korea, Israel and others are setting up Unified cyber commands for more effective and coordinated efforts for conducting cyberspace operations, both offensive and defensive. The offensive operations are seen as deterrent to adversaries.

However their is also problem  of  adequate manning and training of  cyber warriors.  The  cyber warfare requires personnel with different skill sets that than traditional soldiers. The militaries are having a hard time getting people with essential information technology and information security skill sets as the services struggle to build a force of “cyber-warriors.” During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing today, senators focused in part on how the work force problem is affecting the US Cyber Command’s (US CYBERCOM’s) ability to deal with the demands of information warfare and threats both to the Defense Department’s networks and those of other agencies and industry.

That will require a radical departure from the military’s usual approach to recruiting—particularly since few people who already have the skills the DOD wants would be drawn to the typical military recruitment cycle. People who are usually drawn to the military would require years of training to meet the services’ needs. But Rogers was insistent that, whatever the solution, it wouldn’t be a separate “cyber force,” because the military needs personnel who had the context of the overall mission. Only people embedded in the military would have that.

One of the ways militaries have found to get over the shortages of cyber warriors is to establish geek armies to carry out cyber defense.  In the US, the Pentagon announced two years ago it would hire 2000 private sector and National Guard computer specialists to provide a “surge force’’ to be deployed in the event of a major cyber attack.

The size and scope of the cyber workforce with the Department of Defense has been an issue for years. But Gen. Robert Neller, commandant of the Marine Corps, said retaining those workers is paramount if the Defense Department wants to stay on the leading edge of the cyber front.  “We’re at the point now, if you make it through all the wickets, and you become a cyber Marine, if you will, and you’re qualified to do mission protection or attack or cyber mission force stuff, you’re not leaving,” he said.