The FBI is actively trying to hire a new wave of Special Agents with specialized cyber skills to help it "protect the United States against cyber-based attacks and high-technology crimes."  In a recent FBI job posting for "Special Agent (Cyber)," the FBI emphasized that the position is for applicants with cyber backgrounds only, and laid out the detailed skills (e.g., Computer Network Architecture/Design, Computer Network Administration) and certifications (e.g., IHE - Mile2 Certified Incident Handling Engineer; NPTE - Mile2 Certified Penetration Testing Engineer) that successful applicants will be expected to possess.

According to an article in GovInfoSecurity, the FBI is looking to hire "fewer than 100" new Cyber Agents in this round of hiring. The FBI states that the hiring process can take up to a year and requires applicants to have or obtain a Top Secret security clearance. Once hired, these new Cyber Agents agents will take on investigations such as:

cyber-based terrorism, computer intrusions, online exploitation, and major cyber fraud schemes;

locating and extracting evidence concealed within computers or computer networks;

counteracting operations that target national security and U.S. intellectual property to prevent potentially disabling attacks on infrastructure (banks, water and food supply, etc.); and 

dismantling national and transnational criminal organizations engaged in online fraud and other cyber crimes.

Tim Ryan, a former FBI special agent who is now a managing director at Kroll, told GovInfoSecurity that for positions such as "Special Agent (Cyber)," the FBI seems to be sending a clear message to students and other applicants that it prefers specialized technical knowledge over a more general "criminal justice" background.

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