The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) hired nearly 300 cybersecurity professionals in the last two months. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced the Department’s largest cybersecurity hiring initiative in its history with the extension of an additional 500 tentative job offers.

This hiring initiative, which exceeded its goal by almost 50 percent, is part of a 60-day Cybersecurity Workforce Sprint focused on building a more diverse cybersecurity workforce.

This month, Secretary Mayorkas will also launch an Honors Program beginning with an initiative to recruit recent graduates with degrees in cybersecurity-related fields for a one-year professional development program at DHS. Participants who successfully complete this program will be eligible for permanent, full-time cybersecurity positions at the Department.

Further, the Department’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is expanding its K-12 initiative to cultivate the next generation of diverse cybersecurity professionals.

CISA recently hosted more than 40 professional development events for over 1,500 educators to provide them with the resources and tools to incorporate critical cybersecurity concepts into their core curriculum at scale. In the coming weeks, DHS will also launch a new cybersecurity initiative for girls in grades 6-12, building on its recent partnership with Girl Scouts of the USA.