(TNS) – When she enrolled at Anderson University three years ago, Jayden Brown knew she wanted to help people and started what she expected to be as a nurse’s degree.
But like many students, the Pendleton resident realized that her starting direction was not her true calling.
“I’ve always loved doing things, dealing with technology, so I decided to deal with cybersecurity,” she said. “I still have an interest in medicine, so when I graduate, I want to work in cyber security at the hospital.”
In an effort to help Brown and other students achieve their career goals, Anderson University opened its new Center for Security Studies and Cyber Defense at Decker Hall on Tuesday.
Powered by a $ 1 million donation from Lilly Endowment of Indianapolis and a $ 250,000 grant from the Upland-based Avis Foundation, the center is one of many across the campus. Each of them helps students in their dedicated areas to make professional contacts and gain the work experience necessary to achieve career goals.
Cyber security and cyber defense are special interests of AU President John S. Pistole, an AU graduate and former FBI Deputy Director General.
The center includes six dual-screen workstations and six wall monitors that can display cyber threats around the world in real time. These monitors can be divided into as many as 64 unique images.
“They can take their monitors and what they see and put it on the wall,” said the center’s executive director David Dungan.
In addition to creating opportunities for students, he said, the center will enable local and regional businesses to take advantage of cost-effective cybersecurity services. This includes analyzes of business fingerprints in cyber security and their risks and threats.
Services that can be provided include network and cloud security, digital forensics and ethical hacking.
Center director Garrett Henderson, a graduate of AI, said he expects discounted services to be offered primarily to churches and nonprofits.
“I would like to concentrate on communities with a lack of services,” he said.
Although the center is just beginning to market its services, students and professors are not waiting for outside clients to start, Henderson said.
“We are already doing this for the university, which has its own unique needs and helps us prepare equipment and processes for future clients,” he said.
Client privacy is ensured by non-disclosure agreements signed by students and a secure workplace where the window facing the hallway can be clean or electronically opaque to obscure what is happening inside from passers-by.
© 2022 The Herald Bulletin (Anderson, Ind.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Comments are closed.