Cyber Corps' Teams to Thwart Hackers
The University of Tulsa is among six U.S. schools awarded $8.6 million by the National Science Foundation to train elite squadrons of computer security experts -- America's "Cyber Corps" -- to form the country's first line of defense against Internet hackers and terrorists.
The announcement of the new initiative was made Tuesday, May 22, by National Science Foundation director Rita Colwell.
The University of Tulsa (TU), a private university in Tulsa, Okla., will begin its program in the fall with a grant of $2,791,939. Five other universities received similar "Scholarship for Service" grants from the NSF.
"With this grant TU will set a milestone by creating a new 21st-century profession of men and women who will make U.S. cyberspace a secure arena for business and government," said University of Tulsa President Bob Lawless. "This grant is further recognition of the high quality of research conducted by our faculty and our students, and the government's selection of TU to help launch this initiative demonstrates that we are at the forefront of computer security education in the nation."
Grants for the program were awarded to TU, the Naval Postgraduate School, Iowa State University, Purdue University, the University of Idaho and Carnegie Mellon University.
TU program leaders are computer science professors Sujeet Shenoi and John Hale. Also participating will be Mauricio Papa, assistant professor of computer science at TU.
"The critical problem we face now is that there are not enough trained people to protect our information infrastructure," says Shenoi.
"Information technology and the Internet have revolutionized communication," he says. "But the downside is that American society has become very vulnerable." He says hackers routinely disrupt government web sites, viruses attack corporate America, and terrorists and foreign powers systematically probe military networks.
Within the federal government, this shortage in information assurance professionals is projected to exceed 37,000 within the next six years. To address this need, Shenoi says, TU is going to graduate highly skilled members of the "cyber corps."
"The goal is to produce a cadre of professionals with solid backgrounds in computer science, specializations in computer security and a commitment to federal service," he says. Each year for three years, TU will enroll 12 students in the program, which is open to college students in their junior year or first-year graduate students. The grant will pay for each student's tuition for two years, room and board, travel to conferences, and provide a stipend of approximately $1,000 per month.
After one year of training, students will complete a summer internship in a federal agency, learning first-hand about computer security issues and putting into practice what they've learned. "Many federal agencies -- the IRS, Department of Commerce -- desperately need trained people to protect their operations," says Shenoi.
By the end of their second year, the undergraduates will have earned a bachelor's degree in computer science or computer security assurance, and the graduate students will hold a master's in computer science -- and all will have three federal-level computer security certificates.
TU is the only university that offers all three federal certificates: Information Security Professional (INFOSEC), Designated Approving Authority (DAA) and Information Systems Security Officer (ISSO). The curriculum integrates information security and computer science, and emphasizes computer law and policy issues.
After four years, 36 graduates will have joined the "Cyber Corps." Shenoi expects that upon graduation, the students will work as information assurance specialists for the federal government.
During their training, students will conduct research, often in collaboration with federal scientists, which is directed toward a senior project or a master's thesis. Students will work in teams of two undergraduates and one graduate student.
The TU teams will conduct outreach activities, such as developing information technology ethics courses for middle and high school students. Some of this work will be done with the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism in Oklahoma City.
Guidance will come from an advisory board that includes retired Gen. Dennis J. Reimer, former U.S. Army Chief of Staff and currently director of the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism; James Hearn, former deputy director of the National Security Agency; Louis Blair, executive secretary of the Truman Foundation in Washington, D.C.; Howard Janzen, president and CEO of Williams Communication in Tulsa, and University of Tulsa trustees Ross Swimmer and Ellen Adelson.
Shenoi expects students from TU's Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge (TURC) will apply for the program. TURC enables TU students to conduct research and take advanced courses under the guidance of faculty mentors. It also emphasizes the importance of community service to develop future leaders.
Hale and Shenoi also lead TU's Center for Information Security, which has received nearly $5 million during the past year for security research and education from federal agencies. The center is one of 22 university entities designated by the National Security Agency as Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education.
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The NSF news release is available at: http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/press/pressrel.htm
Contact: Rolf Olsen(918) 631-2653 [email protected]
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