The Latest in IT Security

By Doina Chiacu WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In the race to attract cybersecurity experts to protect the governments computer networks, the Department of Homeland Security has a handicap money cant fix. Even when somebody is patriotic and wants to do their duty for the nation, if theyre really good theyre not going to wait six months to get hired, said Mark Weatherford, the former cyber chief at DHS. After a spate of national security leaks and with cybercrime on the rise, the department is vying with the private sector and other three-letter federal agencies to hire and retain talent to secure federal networks and contain threats to American businesses and utilities. Phyllis Schneck, the former chief technology officer at security software company McAfee Inc who succeeded Weatherford in August, asked a U.S. Senate committee for help.