Group urges cybersecurity training for federal employees

In a letter addressed to Senate Government Affairs Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, and sent to members of Congress on Thursday, the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) called for federal agencies to take "a more holistic approach to cybersecurity" by encouraging greater information technology training.

Thomas Santaniello, CompTIA's U.S. public policy manager, wrote that the National Science Foundation (NSF) received a passing grade on the recent cyber security "scorecard" due in part to the agency's rigorous IT training.

"Contrary to widely-held beliefs that IT security is a technology-only issue, in over 63 percent of identified security breaches, human error is a major underlying factor," he wrote. "The NSF's holistic approach which focuses on both technology and ... the skills of people using and managing its IT infrastructure, represents a successful model towards combating cyber breaches."