Congressional delegation, UD announce federal grant for Cybersecurity Education Initiative

NEWARK – U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons, and U.S. Rep. John Carney joined the University of Delaware to announce a federal grant from the National Science Foundation in the amount of $416,102 to help create a Regional Cybersecurity Education Initiative.  The goal of the initiative, formed by the University of Delaware, Delaware Technical Community College and Harford Community College along with government and industrial partners, is to establish a pipeline of graduates skilled in the theories and practices required to address pressing cybersecurity threats facing our state, region and nation. The Congressional delegation toured a computer lab at the University of Delaware to learn about tools and techniques designed to ready students for this emerging field.

“A cyber attack is perhaps the greatest looming threat to the United States, and the Cybersecurity Education Initiative’s efforts will play an important role not just for Delaware but in investing in the next generation of technology and cyber experts that will improve our nation’s cybersecurity,” Senator Coons said. “This initiative is a significant collaborative step in understanding and confronting the challenges in the ever-changing realm of cyberspace.  I believe in the Cybersecurity Education Initiative, and I am committed to its success because our nation can’t afford to risk the safety and security of our critical infrastructure.” Senator Coons is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Cybersecurity Education Initiative will:

• Expand Cybersecurity courses at the University of Delaware
• Create a minor at the University of Delaware producing students able to design state of the art secure software systems
• Create a 2+2 Program to allow second year Delaware Technical Community College and Harford Community College students to transfer into four year University of Delaware Computer and Information Sciences, and Computer Engineering BS degree programs
• Establish cybersecurity internship program
• Create middle and high school student and teacher summer camps focused on cybersecurity

Kenneth Barner, principal investigator on the grant and chair of UD’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, said the project will be particularly important for Delaware and northern Maryland, “where there is a significant need for trained cybersecurity graduates critical to large regional employers in, for example, the financial services industry and the military.”

Senator Coons calls for executive order on cybersecurity

Frustrated by the Senate's inability to pass the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 and determined to confront the growing threat of cyber attacks on our nation's critical infrastructure, Senator Coons teamed up with Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) to send a letter to President Obama Tuesday urging him to issue an executive order to take the first steps on implementing a voluntary system to increase information-sharing in the private sector.

"We remain committed to the passage of this important legislation, and are continuing our efforts to resolve differences regarding the appropriate role of government in the protection of critical infrastructure,” the senators wrote. “We write today to stress, however, that the failure of Congress to act should not prevent the executive branch from taking available steps to counter the enormous and growing cyber threat."

Working with the Cybersecurity Act’s authors, Senators Coons and Blumenthal were part of a bipartisan effort to build consensus around a voluntary system for owners of key power, transportation, and communication facilities to coordinate with the federal government on the strengthening of their cyber defenses. In their letter today, the senators urge President Obama to instruct Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano “to convene an inter-agency group that will develop, in close collaboration with the private sector, voluntary standards for digital safeguards for our nation’s critical infrastructure.”

“We recognize that an order directing the promulgation of voluntary standards cannot and should not be the final word in cybersecurity,” the senators wrote. “An executive order, for example, would not be able to provide the types of incentives for participating companies that Congress can establish.  A well-crafted set of voluntary standards could, however, be an important step towards improving the cybersecurity of our nation’s critical infrastructure.”

Read the full letter below: