The Texas A&M University (TAMU) Cybersecurity Remote Education Access Toolkits (CREAT) Project is prototyping the first set of web-based remote-access tools and an experimental lab to support cybersecurity experiments among academic institutions. CREAT is providing faculty training and developing a repository of comprehensive real-world case studies. The most critical challenge in capacity building is to enable trainees to master foundational knowledge, secure useable and expandable tools, and build a sustainable community for them to further their growth in this field. To meet this challenge, CREAT is being developed from an integrated perspective that considers knowledge, tools, trainees, and communities. The technology foundation of CREAT is the web-based access exercise system (WAES) of the virtual network engineering lab (NSF EIA-0081761). The trainee foundation of CREAT is the DelMar Consortium (NSF Due-0302734).
Intellectual merit. The prototype CREAT project is creating a versatile management tool for faculty to integrate knowledge, assignments, and exercises. When fully developed, faculty will use CREAT to formulate mission needs, resources, pitfalls, and intrusion responses, etc. Through a simple user interface, faculty and students will effectively master the vast number of threats and algorithms in a realistic exercise setting, regardless of rapid evolutions of cybersecurity concerns. These assets will greatly improve the productivity of cybersecurity education for faculty development, student outcomes, and infrastructure costs.
Broader impact. CREAT is being designed to remove the knowledge sharing barriers among cybersecurity educators and students. Creation of an organized repository of real-world case-studies, coupled with continually updated experimental settings, pertaining to cybersecurity and information assurance is empowering faculty to adapt and adopt current materials for their local needs quickly. Faculty from Minority Serving Institutions will have the choice to run their own labs, or affiliate with other institutions to deliver virtually identical learning experiences. CREAT is having a direct impact on the quality and availability of cybersecurity education for underserved populations. TAMU, a NSA designated Center of Excellence for Information Assurance Education, is among the top 20 colleges for Hispanics, ranked sixth in the awarding of doctoral degrees to Hispanics, and in Fall 2004 increased African American and Hispanic enrollments by 29% and 20%, respectively, in the College of Engineering. DMC, the 12th largest Hispanic serving community college in the nation, enrolls over 25,000 predominately first generation college students. DMC enrollment is 57% Hispanic and 60% female.
