Department of Defense internship program for cyber pros aims to correct balance between public and private sector

Public sector cybersecurity gets a bad rap—which the Department of Defense aims to change with a new initiative.

The Cyber RAP (Registered Apprenticeship Program) is a paid internship scheme DOD hopes will make the federal government more appealing to cybersecurity talent. The 12-month, paid program offers hands-on experience alongside cybersecurity professionals, mentorship, and the potential for full-time employment afterwards.

Bhavesh Vadhani, global cybersecurity partner with CohnReznick, told IT Brew that he’s feeling positive about Cyber RAP’s potential to compete for talent in a tight market.

“It can be impactful if it is treated as a structured talent pipeline,” Vadhani said. “It cannot be one of those other programs that, ‘Oh, we initiated the program, but there is no governance.’”

Fighting on. In a statement on July 6 announcing the program, DOD CIO Kirsten Davies—using the current administration’s “Department of War” name for the agency—acknowledged the challenge ahead and the need to look for outside-the-box candidates who may not have a traditional cyber education.

“This program bypasses traditional academic gatekeeping to value what truly matters: raw aptitude, patriotic drive, and hands-on capability over traditional academic credentials,” Davies said. “By unlocking this untapped potential, we are actively forging America’s elite cyber workforce of the future from the ground up.”

Candidates from nontraditional backgrounds could help the DOD and other agencies fill a significant number of empty cybersecurity slots. In 2025, Mark Gorak, director of the DOD’s Cyber Academic Engagement Office, said during a cybersecurity workforce showcase in Washington, DC, that the agency was short more than 20,000 cybersecurity professionals, according to the department.

Cashing in? While Cyber RAP has ambitious goals, it may have issues matching up against companies offering high salaries to entice new employees. Cyber RAP offers an annual salary of $22,584, hardly competitive when compared to cybersecurity intern pay at private-sector firms—though the program does allow for working other jobs outside of DOD hours.

Vadhani, who has hired his fair share of cyber professionals with varied levels of experience, believes Cyber RAP should be seen as a potential force multiplier, and a program that could help “make sure that only the right skills and the right folks are getting into some of these critical roles, whether it is an entry-level security operations center role, whether it’s an analyst role, whether it’s a threat hunter role.”

“All of those require people to have certain technical aptitudes,” Vadhani added. “This program allows them to build that without relying on traditional degrees, and it allows them to mold and build it the way they want them to be built.”