Creating A Cyber Volunteer Force: Strategy And Options

Critical infrastructure and essential services in the United States-especially small or rural service providers-are highly vulnerable to disruptions from cyber attacks. Given the ever-growing need for cybersecurity services in all sectors and the inability of the marketplace to keep up with demand, a number of entities began organizing cyber volunteer efforts to provide assistance to resource-deprived recipients. State and local governments, federal emergency response organizations, for-profit companies, academic institutions and nonprofits have all built cyber volunteer programs that need skilled and experienced cybersecurity talent.

In this context, members of McDermott's Global Privacy & Cybersecurity team took on a pro bono project to provide a detailed examination of existing cyber volunteer programs, including cyber volunteering models, best practices and relevant legal issues. The report identifies the steps and recommendations that our team believes are