The Center for Systems Security and Information Assurance (CSSIA) was established in 2003 as an ATE regional center for cybersecurity education (NSF Award No. 0302612). With renewed NSF funding, this center is continuing to develop, adapt, and enhance courses and curricula and offer training to community college and university faculty and students across a six-state region in the Midwest. The following educational institutions are collaborating in the operation of the center:
* Moraine Valley Community College (Palos Hills, Illinois) * Rock Valley College (Rockford, Illinois) * University of Illinois at Springfield (Springfield, Illinois) * Indiana Institute of Technology (Fort Wayne, Indiana) * Lakeland Community College (Kirtland, Ohio) * James A. Rhodes State College (Lima, Ohio) * Washtenaw Community College (Ann Arbor, Michigan) * Madison Area Technical College (Madison, Wisconsin) * Inver Hills Community College (Grove Heights, Minnesota)
The center's areas of focus in cybersecurity education include network security; digital forensics; information assurance; VoIP and convergence security; wireless security; ethics; and policy, compliance, and auditing. Each collegiate partner is leading the center's efforts in one of these areas. Major activities include:
* serving as a regional resource for courses, curricula, lab materials, training, and advice; * reviewing, revising, packaging, and disseminating courseware and educational materials; * providing faculty development and train-the-trainer workshops; * building connections with new business and industry partners; * conducting outreach to secondary schools; * creating or expanding articulations between programs at the high school, community college, and university levels; * offering internships for students; and * coordinating team competitions, such as state and regional collegiate cyber defense exercises.
The center is responding to the need for skilled cybersecurity professionals by increasing faculty expertise and educational programs in IT security and information assurance. Activities such as train-the-trainer workshops and student internships are designed to increase the knowledge base and number of individuals qualified to work in the IT security industry. The project team is providing technical consulting services to other educational institutions and working with business and industry to research their workforce needs, products, and emerging technologies in cybersecurity.
The center is continuing to update the AAS and BS curricula that were developed during its first four years of operation. These curricula are standardized, skill-based, vendor-neutral, and replicable at other educational institutions. The curricula are also modularized, which allows for ongoing updates through the insertion of new modules that use the most current IT security and data assurance software/hardware.
The center is continuing and expanding the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition that it first coordinated in the spring of 2006. These competitions allow student teams to apply the theory and skills learned in their coursework by maintaining and enhancing a real-world business network while defending against vulnerability experts from the Cyber Defense Agency. Six state competitions are being held each year; the state winners compete for the regional title; and the regional winner then competes nationally.
The center is enhancing innovative partnerships with K-12 schools and community organizations to recruit and retain underrepresented and minority populations in IT professions. The center is sponsoring IT career workshops, which introduce students in the targeted groups to IT security and data assurance professions and provide a basic skills assessment, academic advising, and other supportive services.
