SPRINGFIELD – The Computer Science department at the University of Illinois at Springfield has received an equipment donation grant of $145,890 from the Critical Infrastructure Assurance Group, which works to provide leadership in improving the security of the global critical infrastructure.
Ted Mims, professor and department chair, said that the equipment will be used to establish an intrusion detection laboratory at UIS and to enhance an existing Cisco Systems Security and Information Assurance laboratory that was previously established through a National Science Foundation/Advanced Technological Education grant.
Mims noted that the department is in the process of applying to become a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Security and Assurance Education sponsored by the National Security Agency. "Our courses are already certified by the Information Assurance Courseware Evaluation Program and have been certified by the Committee of National Security Systems and the NSA as meeting national training standards for information systems security professionals and system administrators," he said.
Mims said that the new equipment will allow faculty and students to work together to design, implement, and test theoretical security and information assurance applications in a real-world environment.
CIAG is committed to helping organizations worldwide implement security strategies by directly addressing research, training, education, sound practices, and standards needs. Working with industry, government agencies, standards bodies, educational institutions, and individual infrastructure owners and operators, CIAG promotes awareness and offers resources to assure the security of critical infrastructure worldwide.
The UIS Computer Science department is a Cisco Regional Networking Academy, serving as the instruction center for local academies at high schools, career centers, community colleges, and universities in central Illinois.
For more information about the Critical Infrastructure Assurance Group, go to www.cisco.com/go/ciag. For more information about Cisco at UIS, go to http://people.uis.edu/tmims1/ciscoacademy/allinfo.htm. More information about UIS' Computer Science program is available at http://csc.uis.edu/.
