Last week's CrowdStrike outage left a huge impact across the world and served as a reminder of how important cyber security is.
"Cyber security is critical because the world operates on a digital foundation," said Harry Coker Jr., White House National Cyber Director.
On Friday, Coker Jr. visited the University of Nevada, Reno.
What drew him to visit the University was a program that is running to help teachers become educated on cyber skills, so they can implement it in the classrooms.
University faculty sit down with middle school and high school teachers to educate them more about cyber security.
"That is a role model program. There might be a handful across the country. There needs to be many more," Coker Jr. said. "We are delighted that the University of Nevada, Reno is leading the way on this front."
The director stresses how important and vital the work force is for cyber security.
There are currently about 500,000 job openings nationwide. About 4,000 of those are in Nevada with Reno having about 300.
However, getting these positions filled will be an uphill battle.
"Even if we every person pursuing a degree or certificate in cyber security continued on to get a job in the field, we would still fall short in getting these roles," Coker Jr. said.
The program is helping to teach young students the skills they need to enter the work force.
University President Brain Sandoval says getting this recognition is a great honor.
"It is a really big deal when the White House sends somebody out to a campus, and we didn't invite them. They came here because they heard about the great things happening on our campus and our great faculty and this program that they truly want to replicate across the country," he said.Â
