There aren’t enough people trained in cybersecurity, so NetSpi started its own program

As cyber threats increase, companies need more protection to keep pace.

Cyber crime losses exceeded $16 billion in 2024, a 33% increase over the prior year, according to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Minneapolis-based NetSpi specializes in proactive security by building up a company’s cyber protections and testing those systems rather than taking a reactive approach.

That takes an increasing number of employees at a time when, according to the World Economic Forum, nearly 70% of security leaders say they face additional risks because of cybersecurity skills shortages, and more than half struggle to recruit and retain new talent.

“There is a dearth of talent in the industry,” said Aaron Shilts, NetSpi’s chief executive.

NetSpi has increased its headcount by 16% since the start of 2024 and now has 658 employees, said Shilts.

He says NetSpi will do about $150 million in revenue for 2025.

The company has decided to cast a wide net for employees and then do its own training. If applicants have intellectual curiosity and a knack for problem-solving, they may have what it takes without prior experience, Shilts and other managers say.

The result: NetSpi University.

Before new tech employees start on client accounts, they go through six months of internal training.

“We make a significant investment in them, and that’s the only way we’ve been able to hire at the scale that we need,” Shilts said.

New hires are paid while they go through the program designed to train penetration testers, or pen testers, the ethical hackers who test corporate IT systems for vulnerabilities before bad actors can exploit them.

After the initial training, the employees continue in mentoring and coaching programs. There’s also advanced training, including certificate programs, as employees grow more confident and may want to specialize.

Continued training on new processes and goals is an important component of a strong company culture, leaders of Minnesota’s Top Workplaces say.

NetSpi started its six-month training program in 2017 and has been constantly modifying the coursework since. Enrollment is generally capped at 12 new hires.

Stanley Wu was one of those students in 2024.

Wu graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., where he studied management information systems and computer science. He started his career in business analytics at Fortune 500 companies.

Before working at NetSpi, he worked remotely for a national managed services provider. But Wu found it isolating and decided he was someone who wanted to work in an office.

Wu felt comfortable at NetSpi, despite not having a cybersecurity background, because of the training program.

After graduating from the training in August, Wu said he is finding his niche.

“One of my main focuses has been in trying to make sure that we have an open door,” said Melissa Miller, who joined NetSpi in 2020 and is one of the instructors. “For example, we have folks that have a math degree that go through NetSpi U and thrive. We’ve got folks that have background in biology but are able to make a career shift.”

Miller has a computer science degree from the University of Minnesota but didn’t have much exposure to cybersecurity. So she’s keen on considering people with diverse career histories willing to make a career switch.

NetSpi University — founded in 2017 by Aaron Yaeger, vice president of technical enablement — uses a rigorous process to select job candidates. Miller said it’s highly data dependent, to help reduce hiring bias while identifying strong candidates.

Miller has heard from candidates that they were generally frustrated by the hiring process in the industry, because jobs require experience but don’t offer ways to get it at the entry level.

“We’re confident in our program to be able to take people from zero to hero,” Miller said. “If you have the logic skills, if you can learn, and if you’re putting in the effort, there’s a spot for you, and there’s a spot for everyone who’s going through the program.”

Wu feels confident he’ll continue to get the support he needs.

“It was very powerful that I get to say what I wanted to do, and then it happened,” Wu said.