Texas is not the first place you think of when you think of cybersecurity, but thanks to Prairie ... [+]
Texas is not the first place that comes to mind when you think about technology or cybersecurity—especially not Prairie View, Texas. However, it is in Prairie View that Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) is working to improve cybersecurity research and education thanks in part to a grant from the Department of Defense.
SECURE Center for Excellence
Prairie View A&M University is a public, historically black university (HBU) in Prairie View, Texas—about 45 miles west of Houston. It is one of two land-grant universities in Texas, and the second oldest public institution of higher learning in the state—established in 1876. Prairie View A&M is also the home of the SECURE (Systems to Enhance Cybersecurity for Universal Research Environment) Center of Excellence.
SECURE was created with a mission to support the research needs of industry and government partners. It focuses on cybersecurity research and enhancing and improving cybersecurity education. The goal is to advance knowledge and technologies in this area and to uncover research that is relevant and has real-world application.
DoD Grant
The Department of Defense awarded Prairie View A&M University a grant of $432,854 to enhance and expand its cybersecurity research and education efforts. Research Scientist and Principal Investigator (PI), Dr. Shumon Alam, explained in a post on the Prairie View A&M website, “To effectively combat cyber attacks, it is necessary to study the attack vectors, investigate the security issues, develop new security models, and investigate cybersecurity management for various interconnected cyber systems.”
The project will provide rigorous modeling of network and cybersecurity solutions and improve the cybersecurity learning experience for PVAMU students. Peripheral objectives for the project include increasing engagement of underrepresented students in cybersecurity research, motivating undergraduate students to pursue graduate degree programs, and promoting minority students to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) related fields—especially cybersecurity.
Investing in the Right Platform
I had an opportunity to speak with Dr. Alam about the SECURE Center for Excellence and winning the DoD grant. He told me that one of the primary uses of the grant funds will be an investment in the CyberFlood platform from Spirent.
When I asked why PVAMU selected that platform, Dr. Alam said that one of the things that really resonated with him and with what they are trying to accomplish at PVAMU is Spirent’s focus on the “Three R’s”: realism, reliability, and repeatability. He stressed that their research requires equipment that can emulate real traffic—not just simulate it. He explained that the CyberFlood platform is great for researchers because it uses real traffic and real data sets, adding that the attack vectors used are current and frequently updated—which enables both the research and the education to be current and relevant.
The combination of the Prairie View A&M University faculty, the DoD grant, and the Spirent CyberFlood platform provide the SECURE Center for Excellence with the tools and focus necessary to improve cybersecurity research and raise the bar for educating the next generation of cybersecurity professionals. They also mean that next time you think about cybersecurity, maybe Texas will come to mind after all.
