IUP’s Institute for Cyber Security hosted cybersecurity experts from 17 countries on September 23. The experts were invited to the US under the auspices of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program.
Michael Driscoll, IUP president; Hilliary Creely, dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Research; and Christina Koren, director of Strategic Partnerships, joined Waleed Farag, professor of computer science and director of the IUP Institute for Cyber Security, in welcoming the visitors. Farag discussed the IUP institute and its initiatives, including its work with an industry advisory board.
Waleed Farag discussed the IUP Institute for Cyber Security and its initiatives, including the Institute’s work with an industry advisory board, with cybersecurity experts from 17 countries who have been invited to the US under the auspices of the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program. IUP President Michael Driscoll offered a welcome to the visitors.
Visitors included cybersecurity experts from Bangladesh, Brazil, Cook Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Taiwan, Tunisia, Uruguay, and Uzbekistan
The national program was developed by American Councils for International Education. GlobalPittsburgh requested the visit to IUP through a project titled “Promoting Cybersecurity II.”
The US Department of State has these specific objectives for the project:
- Examine the US government’s efforts to manage cybersecurity risk and assess threats to critical infrastructure
- Discuss US policy and efforts to secure an open, interoperable, secure, and reliable cyberspace, including US interagency functions
- Explore cyber education, research, and development efforts
- Assess the efficacy of internet security legislation and explore protections for privacy rights and civil liberties
- Evaluate the role of the private sector in promoting cybersecurity, including public-private information sharing and data protection
- Explore economic and national security impacts of malevolent cyberactivity
- Discuss strategies to collaborate and to counter cyberthreats
IUP’s Institute for Cyber Security was founded in 2005 to encourage and promote cybersecurity at IUP and the surrounding community.
IUP’s Institute for Cyber Security hosted cybersecurity experts from 17 different countries on Sept. 23 who have been invited to the US under the auspices of the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program. IUP President Michael Driscoll, IUP Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Research Hilliary Creely, and Director of Strategic Partnerships Christina Koren joined Waleed Farag, professor of computer science and director of the IUP Institute for Cyber Security, in welcoming the visitors.
For the past 20 years, IUP has been recognized as a Center for Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense by the National Security Agency. IUP is one of only 16 universities in Pennsylvania to hold this designation. It is also one of the first universities in the nation to integrate the disciplines of criminology and computer science to support an academic program in cybersecurity.
In the last six years, IUP’s Institute for Cyber Security has secured more than $15 million in federal funding for IUP-sponsored initiatives and programs, including more than $1 million in federal funding for IUP to enhance cybersecurity training for middle-school students and teachers through the GenCyber program. More than 450 middle-school students and teachers have completed GenCyber camps since 2016.
Over the last five years, Farag has secured more than $2 million through a US Department of Defense program that has provided 37 full scholarships to students in IUP’s cybersecurity major. Part of the scholarship opportunity is a guaranteed position with the Department of Defense after graduation.
The IUP Cyber Security program has about 120 students enrolled, and about 20 students annually complete the program and receive their bachelor’s degree in the computer science/cyber security track. IUP’s program also focuses on cybercrime detection, loss prevention, and how to collect the evidence to prosecute cybersecurity offenders.