RSA Frequently Asked questions

RSA Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is a MiRSA? What's the difference between a MiRSA and an RSA? MiRSA stands for Michigan Regional Skills Alliance, a statewide initiative that brings together business, government, and education to address workforce needs in specific industries. The goals of all the RSAs are to provide Michigan businesses with a highly skilled workforce, and to connect Michigan citizens with good jobs with opportunities for career advancement. "MiRSA" and "RSA" are interchangeable. There are 34 RSAs across the state. For a complete list of RSAs, see http://www.michigan.gov/rsa. What does workforce development have to do with security? As companies become more dependent on technology for everyday functions, the risk - and consequences - of a data breach are growing. Labor market predictions indicate an increased demand for trained information security professionals in the next decade (think of the spike in demand for website developers in the 1990's when the Internet was starting to become widely used). The RSA's three major initiatives address the need for greater awareness of the importance of information security; training and education for the current workforce; and outreach to current students, who are the future workforce. Who can join the RSA? Do I have to be an Automation Alley member? Membership in the RSA is open to anyone interested in contributing their time and energy to the project. For a list of the roles that RSA Partners take, see the Partner Commitment Form. You do not need to be an Automation Alley member to join the RSA. How do I join the RSA? Is there a cost to join? Complete a Partner Commitment Form and return it to the RSA Manager. There is no cost to join the RSA, although there may be a charge for specific RSA events. Will you speak at my event? The RSA would be happy to provide a speaker and/or materials for events on security-related topics. Please contact the RSA Manager for more information. So what does the Information Security RSA do? We're more and more dependent on technology in our everyday lives, so the need to protect our data is becoming more important, and we're going to have a greater need for people trained in this area. The RSA is working to raise awareness of information security issues at the same time we address the need for career information and training for the workforce. Unfortunately, there are still some misconceptions out there that keep people from doing more to protect their own information. Such as? Such as, my computer has a firewall, so I'm safe. Or, I'm just one person, so it's not worth a hacker's time to attack me. Or, this is a technical problem and I don't really understand it, so I'm going to ignore it. This is a dangerous attitude for individuals, but it's even more dangerous for businesses - the majority of businesses that suffer a data breach end up going out of business within 2 years. So information security isn't an IT problem? IT is a big part of the equation, definitely - without technology, we wouldn't have to worry about data security in quite the same way. But, you can have all the technology in the world installed, and if someone can walk into your building and walk out again with a handful of personnel files or client records, you've still got an information security problem. Information security really calls for a comprehensive look at how you're doing business, and figuring out where the risks are and how to mitigate them. So what is the RSA doing about this? We're working on 3 initiatives for the coming year. The first is an information security toolkit for small businesses, to help them understand and address these issues. The second is putting together a training pipeline, so once businesses or individuals identify a need for IS-related training, that information is available in one spot. And finally, we're going to be working on outreach and programming to help students learn more about this career field and get some hands-on experience, so we have a future workforce as the need for information security grows. Aren't there already a lot of people working on information security projects? Why do we need the RSA involved? The overall awareness of the need for security is definitely on the rise. Part of the RSA's mission is to help coordinate those separate efforts and make sure that we're all pulling on the same rope.

RSA Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly is a MiRSA? What's the difference between a MiRSA and an RSA?

MiRSA stands for Michigan Regional Skills Alliance, a statewide initiative that brings together business, government, and education to address workforce needs in specific industries. The goals of all the RSAs are to provide Michigan businesses with a highly skilled workforce, and to connect Michigan citizens with good jobs with opportunities for career advancement.

"MiRSA" and "RSA" are interchangeable.

There are 34 RSAs across the state. For a complete list of RSAs, see http://www.michigan.gov/rsa.

What does workforce development have to do with security?

As companies become more dependent on technology for everyday functions, the risk - and consequences - of a data breach are growing. Labor market predictions indicate an increased demand for trained information security professionals in the next decade (think of the spike in demand for website developers in the 1990's when the Internet was starting to become widely used). The RSA's three major initiatives address the need for greater awareness of the importance of information security; training and education for the current workforce; and outreach to current students, who are the future workforce.

Who can join the RSA? Do I have to be an Automation Alley member?

Membership in the RSA is open to anyone interested in contributing their time and energy to the project. For a list of the roles that RSA Partners take, see the Partner Commitment Form.

You do not need to be an Automation Alley member to join the RSA.

How do I join the RSA? Is there a cost to join?

Complete a Partner Commitment Form and return it to the RSA Manager. There is no cost to join the RSA, although there may be a charge for specific RSA events.

Will you speak at my event?

The RSA would be happy to provide a speaker and/or materials for events on security-related topics. Please contact the RSA Manager for more information.

So what does the Information Security RSA do?

We're more and more dependent on technology in our everyday lives, so the need to protect our data is becoming more important, and we're going to have a greater need for people trained in this area. The RSA is working to raise awareness of information security issues at the same time we address the need for career information and training for the workforce. Unfortunately, there are still some misconceptions out there that keep people from doing more to protect their own information.

Such as?

Such as, my computer has a firewall, so I'm safe. Or, I'm just one person, so it's not worth a hacker's time to attack me. Or, this is a technical problem and I don't really understand it, so I'm going to ignore it. This is a dangerous attitude for individuals, but it's even more dangerous for businesses - the majority of businesses that suffer a data breach end up going out of business within 2 years.

So information security isn't an IT problem?

IT is a big part of the equation, definitely - without technology, we wouldn't have to worry about data security in quite the same way. But, you can have all the technology in the world installed, and if someone can walk into your building and walk out again with a handful of personnel files or client records, you've still got an information security problem. Information security really calls for a comprehensive look at how you're doing business, and figuring out where the risks are and how to mitigate them.

So what is the RSA doing about this?

We're working on 3 initiatives for the coming year. The first is an information security toolkit for small businesses, to help them understand and address these issues. The second is putting together a training pipeline, so once businesses or individuals identify a need for IS-related training, that information is available in one spot. And finally, we're going to be working on outreach and programming to help students learn more about this career field and get some hands-on experience, so we have a future workforce as the need for information security grows.

Aren't there already a lot of people working on information security projects? Why do we need the RSA involved?

The overall awareness of the need for security is definitely on the rise. Part of the RSA's mission is to help coordinate those separate efforts and make sure that we're all pulling on the same rope.