Overview
CyberGEN.IQ - Solving the business problem of the Cyber Skills Gap & Hiring Challenge
CyberGEN.IQ aims to help employers invest in the right people, in the correct positions, with appropriate training programs. This strategic alignment minimises wasted training investment, optimises resource allocation, and reduces turnover.
- Long hiring processes and prolonged time to fill positions
- High turnover rates in cyber teams
- Difficulty in retaining talent cyber skills gaps and mismatched roles
- Candidates often lack the necessary skills or are placed in unsuitable roles
- Higher expenses due to turnover and extended hiring timelines
- Vacant roles and misaligned skills reduce overall productivity
- Unfilled positions and improperly trained staff increase vulnerability
Uncovering a World Full of Cyber Aptitude Insight
For employers, the CyberGEN.IQ score report enables you to easily filter your candidates by the high scores in the quadrant that best matches each job role and open position you’re seeking to fulfil. Looking at the probability of success, your team can identify the top candidates that will be successful in on-the-job-training.
For cybersecurity experts looking to make a career change or advance your career further with the right training or educational resources, you can fully understand where your talents and strengths lie—directing your future training plans and job applications that are right for you.
Prerequisites
No Prior Knowledge Required
Objectives
14 Assessments
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Within the diagnostic battery, there are 14 assessments designed to develop a full picture of your cognitive abilities.
4 Cognitive Dispositions
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CyberGEN.IQ assesses each individual and reveals natural aptitude across four cognitive domains of cybersecurity and helps to align strengths and reveal their perfect role in your business.
No Prior Knowledge Required
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CyberGEN.IQ does not require any prior technical cybersecurity knowledge. This allows any individual, from any background, to calculate their full cybersecurity aptitude.
Scalable for Global Use
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The content and context of the test is a non-linguistic based assessment and can be deployed quickly and effectively for users worldwide.
Build High-Performing Teams
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Accurately assess and measure the skills and cognitive abilities of new team members.
Maps Talent to Job Roles
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Get cybersecurity professionals working in the right job roles to maximize their potential and help protect your business.
Outline
Cyber Skills Gap Challenges Solved – with Improved Candidate Fit and Enhanced Diversity
Pre-Employment Cyber Challenge
- Long hiring process
- High volume of applicants/all resumes look the same
- Mismatch between candidate skills & job requirements
Cyber GEN.IQ Pre-Employment Cyber Solution
- Quickly identifies the most promising candidates, streamlining the initial screen process
- Provides a precise assessment of candidates' cybersecurity aptitude, ensuring they are well-matched to roles that suit their strengths
New Cyber Employee Challenge
- Requires substantial training
- Skills gap between what the employee possesses, and the skills needed for the job
Cyber GEN.IQ New Cyber Employee Solution
- Identifies candidates who already possess the foundational aptitudes required for cybersecurity roles, reducing the skills gap and the need for extensive training
Incumbent Cyber Employee Challenge
- Retention issues
- High turnover rates can be costly and disruptive
- Underperformance and increased training costs
Cyber GEN.IQ Incumbent Cyber Employee Solution
- Accurately matches employees to roles where they will excel and feel fulfilled
- Identify individuals more likely to succeed in training programs, reducing the need for retraining and improving overall effectiveness
Cyber Career Transitioners Challenge
- Candidates from non-traditional background might be overlooked despite having high potential
Cyber GEN.IQ Cyber Career Transitioners Solution
- The assessment focuses on innate cybersecurity aptitude rather than prior knowledge or experience, helping to identify high-potential candidates from diverse and non-traditional backgrounds
Benefits of CyberGEN.IQ for Cyber Hiring
Save 50-80% of your time dedicated to hiring and focus on the right candidate, interviewing them more efficiently and filling your cybersecurity role with the person who is the best cognitive fit.
Streamlined Hiring Process
- Efficient candidate screening: Quickly identify top talent
- Reduced time to hire: Accelerates the hiring process
Improved Candidate Fit
- Accurate role alignment: Matches candidates with roles they are likely to excel in
- Higher retention rates: Better fit leads to increased job satisfaction and retention
Enhanced Diversity
- Focus on aptitude over background: Identifies talent based on potential, not past experience
- Inclusion of diverse candidates: Encourages a more diverse workforce
The 14 Tests within the Assessment Battery of the Cyber GEN.IQ
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| Cognitive Assessment | Short Name | Dimension |
| 1 | Need for Cognition | NFC | Critical Thinking |
| 2 | Dynamic Systems Control | DSCB | Critical Thinking |
| 3 | Matrix Reasoning | MRC | Critical Thinking |
| 4 | Paper Folding | PFB | Critical Thinking |
| 5 | Remember and Count | RACA | Critical Thinking |
| 6 | Remote Associates | RATA | Initiating |
| 7 | Spatial Integration | SRIA | Initiating |
| 8 | Coding Speed | CSB | Responding |
| 9 | Pattern Vigilance | PVA | Responding |
| 10 | Anomaly Detection Rule Based | ADRA | Responding |
| 11 | Statistical Learning | SLB | Responding |
| 12 | Recent Probes -1 item | RP1A | Real-Time |
| 13 | Need for Cognitive Closure | NFCC | Exhaustive |
| 14 | Number Picker | NPA | Exhaustive |
CyberGEN.IQ Use Case Examples
Junior Level Roles
CyberGEN.IQ evaluates cognitive aptitudes rather than existing cybersecurity knowledge, making it perfect for junior-level or early-career candidates. By focusing on cognitive abilities, it uncovers hidden potential essential for cybersecurity success. The assessment provides a comprehensive understanding of a candidate’s strengths across various aptitudes.
- Quadrant Analysis: For example, the 'Initiating' quadrant emphasises creativity and proactive problem-solving, while the 'Responding' quadrant focuses on detecting anomalies and continuous monitoring. Candidates excelling in the 'Initiating' quadrant may be suited for roles requiring innovative solutions, whereas those in the 'Responding' quadrant may thrive in roles that involve constant vigilance and threat detection.
- Individual Constructs: Specific tasks such as Anomaly Detection Rule-Based (ADR) and Dynamic Systems Control (DSC) measure critical thinking and problem-solving skills. ADR assesses the ability to detect deviations from expected patterns, a crucial skill in identifying security breaches. DSC evaluates complex problem-solving abilities, essential for navigating and mitigating cybersecurity threats.
Guided Development
CyberGEN.IQ helps create targeted development plans by identifying individual strengths and areas for growth. This allows employers to enhance the natural aptitudes of junior employees and accelerate their integration into cybersecurity roles.
• Strength Identification: The assessment provides detailed insights into cognitive strengths, such as pattern recognition and rule induction, measured by tasks like Coding Speed (CS) and Matrix Reasoning (MR). For instance, CS measures the ability to quickly form associations and react to new information, crucial for real-time threat response. MR assesses rule induction abilities, important for understanding and predicting system behaviours.
• Development Plans: By mapping these cognitive strengths to specific cybersecurity tasks, employers can tailor training programs to address individual needs. For example, a candidate strong in Need for Cognition (NFC) may excel in roles requiring extensive research and information gathering, while those with high Need for Cognitive Closure (NFCC) may be better suited for decision-making roles that require quick, definitive actions.
CyberGEN.IQ Customer Success Case Studies
Case Study: Selecting Special Operations Command Cyber Teams
US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is utilizing CyberGEN.IQ to pre-screen applicants for a cyber operations program. CyberGEN.IQ was 77% effective in predicting who would pass/fail the SOCOM selection event.
Different clusters of cognitive ability for teams became clear:
- Mentally Tough
- Creative Thinkers
- Critical Thinkers
Case Study: Selecting US Air Force Cyber Warfare Operators
USAF conducted an extensive study of the ability to use CyberGEN.IQ as a filter for students coming into Cyber Warfare Operator training.
- CyberGEN.IQ was 97% effective at predicting who was going to become elite (score 90% or higher) Cyber Warfare Operators
- CyberGEN.IQ was 84% effective at predicting who would be Cyber Warfare Operators vs other IT professionals
Case Study: University of North Georgia
The University of North Georgia (UNG) used CyberGEN.IQ to find 'students in the haystack' with no prior cybersecurity knowledge, skills or abilities, creating a diverse team that went on to win the NSA Codebreaker Challenge.
This winning team increased the percentage of women on the team from 10% to 20%, while increasing the overall size of the team by 4x.
Of those women:
- Most never studied cyber or software development
- Now nationally competitive
- Many considering cyber careers
- Many have stayed in the studies for more than 2 years now
- CyberGEN.IQ encouraged them, because it wasn’t intimidating
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