Here is how we secure our digital future
UB received a $3.4 million grant to train the next generation of cybersecurity experts
Awarded by the National Science Foundation, the grant provides funding to the University at Buffalo Center of Excellence in Information Systems Assurance Research and Education (CEISARE) to continue CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service.
A designated National Center of Excellence in cybersecurity education and research, CEISARE aims to graduate 24 cybersecurity specialists over the next five years. To date, the program has graduated over 45 scholars who work for the FBI, CIA, Department of Homeland Security, National Security Agency, Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Inspector General and several other agencies.
“Cybersecurity is the need of the hour,” says Shambhu Upadhyaya, principal investigator on the grant, CEISARE director, and professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering in the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. “We are trying to make an impact at UB by engaging in outreach activities in addition to doing research.”
Distinct advantage of collaboration
Since 2008, CEISARE has received over $10 million to run the CyberCorps program. And for the first time since the program began at UB, CEISARE will include students enrolled in technical and managerial disciplines in undergraduate programs, in addition to those enrolled in master’s degree and doctoral programs.
The program is led by a core group of four faculty members from as many academic disciplines, including engineering, management, mathematics and law. Lawrence Sanders, professor of management science and systems in the UB School of Management, is a co-principal investigator on the grant.
Through CyberCorps, UB launched a master’s degree in engineering science with a focus in cybersecurity, as well as a cybersecurity minor for undergraduates. The program has also extended outreach to middle and high school students, bringing more than 300 children to UB to learn about the fundamentals of cybersecurity.
By preparing future cybersecurity professionals for the workforce, the world will be better prepared to address the challenges associated with artificial intelligence, information authenticity, blockchain and other technologies.
