The Cybersecurity Complex at Norfolk State University is a facility that has tools to equip the next generation of cybersecurity experts. Located in the Marie V. McDemmond Center for Applied Research, the Cybersecurity Complex includes data centers and research labs that provide training for students in areas that include cloud computing, digital forensics, wireless security, cyber-psychology, socio-cybersecurity and more. As a leader in cybersecurity education and research, the Cybersecurity Complex prepares today’s students to provide tomorrow’s cybersecurity solutions.
History
NSU has a unique history of supporting our nation’s cybersecurity mission by leveraging faculty/student skills to provide real-time innovative cyber solutions and highly-skilled personnel. Our cybersecurity initiative began in 2003 with the establishment of our MS Computer Science program that included an Information Assurance emphasis. NSU merits and consequently seeks special designation by the Department of Defense as a provider of cybersecurity services since 2009.
Mission
The Cybersecurity Complex project team expects that participating faculty will develop an understanding of real-world operational cybersecurity gaps and associated high-impact research needs – for example, in enterprise security, digital forensic tools, and emerging technologies such as cloud computing. This is to further the goal of the Cybersecurity Complex which is to create partnerships with federal agencies and laboratories, industry and other universities to provide more opportunities to engage students and shape them to be emerging leaders in the field of cybersecurity.
CECOR
Cybersecurity defense has been identified as an area of critical need by the Departments of Energy, Education, and Defense as well as by the President of the United States. The Consortium Enabling Cybersecurity Opportunities and Research (CECOR) funded by the Department of Energy is a collaborative effort among thirteen colleges and universities and two national laboratories to develop a K-20 pipeline for the cybersecurity workforce.
The developed workforce development program will produce well-qualified cybersecurity professionals in significant numbers to address the pressing cybersecurity workforce shortage. The overarching goal is to produce future employees specifically trained to address realistic security problems experienced by NNSA laboratories in particular, and U.S. government agencies and the private industry in general.
The CECOR project establishes a world-class research, education, and workforce development program that combines the strengths of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and national laboratories to create a K-20 pipeline of students to participate in cybersecurity and related fields. Our partners include: Norfolk State University (NSU) lead, Allen University (AU), Benedict College (BC), Clark Atlanta University (CAU), Claflin University (CU), Denmark Technical College (DTC), Morris College (MC), North Carolina A&T State University (NCAT), Paine College (PC), South Carolina State University (SCSU), University of the Virgin Islands (UVI), Voorhees College (VC), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) located in Livermore, California.
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