America’s colleges and universities are turning out an army of warriors! But, these warriors are not your typical soldiers…and they don’t carry firearms. These are cyber-warriors.
Nationwide, colleges and universities are rushing to offer research and academic programs, workshops, classroom instruction and degrees – all related to cybersecurity. Some are even creating what they call “cyber ranges,” where future cyber-warriors train and test their skills.
Cyber ranges are not unlike shooting ranges. Users are trained in the use of weapons, operations and tactics. However, the cyber range is a virtual environment that is used for training and development of cyber technology. The ranges are places where cyber-warriors and IT professionals work together to develop technologies and security strategies.
Radford University, a public university in Virginia, has its own cyber range for students. Recently, the university also became a partner in a statewide initiative, the Virginia Cyber Range, which will help ensure skilled workers are prepared to protect data and computer systems from future cyber attacks.
The Virginia Cyber Range is offered to both high school and college students in an effort to develop leaders with innovative solutions to recurring hacks of consumer, research and financial data. The cyber range provides a state-of-the-art setting for advanced cybersecurity training and students are flocking to it.
Cybersecurity education at the Virginia Cyber Range will focus on network defense, securing critical infrastructure, detection of malware, secure coding practices, privacy and other issues. Because the cyber range is hosted in the “cloud,” it is accessible by other participating university campuses and agencies.
Radford is not the only institution being pro-active in its cybersecurity initiatives. In fact, in Texas, The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) was ranked the nation’s top school for cybersecurity in 2014. UTSA was also selected by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to head up its Information Sharing and Analysis Organizations Standards Organization. The university is charged with developing a system for sharing cybersecurity information between government and the private sector.
The San Antonio university last year entered into a public-private partnership (P3) with five other universities, the FBI and several private-sector corporate partners as part of the U.S. Army Reserve’s Cyber Private-Public Partnership Program. The Cyber P3 initiative will train cybersecurity warriors through both classroom instruction and field work.
Another Texas institution – The University of Texas at Austin – has launched a Center for Identity which was cited as a model for other universities interested in expanding cybersecurity programs by attracting private and federal funding assistance.
Texas A&M University is also active in this arena. A&M awarded $250,000 in research funding as seed grants to five cybersecurity research teams. The seed grants will fund work on such issues as increasing cyber attack identification and securing critical infrastructure networks.
Many public entities are resource-constrained when it comes to addressing cybersecurity issues, and many of their IT employees do not have the technical skills to address this problem. In Virginia, the state has instituted a unique initiative to change that. The state’s budget includes funding for a scholarship program that provides a free education for individuals who agree to work for the state once they have earned the needed cybersecurity credentials. That innovative idea is likely to reap huge rewards.
The U.S. must have talented cybersecurity experts who are innovative thinkers. And, partnerships with private-sector partners are also critically important if the country is going to remain safe from cybersecurity sleuths who would wreak havoc on our way of life. Hats off to universities that are leading the way in this most important arena.