LSU and the state’s largest ports have formed an alliance to advance cyber talent and at the same time protect critical infrastructure. LSU President William Tate said the partnership allows students to receive training and research opportunities with six of the state’s largest ports.
“We’re going to be working with our ports on talent development, embedding our students in situations where they are going to be able to protect and secure us from cyberattacks, grow, and learn in real-time,” said Tate.
Students will also assist ports to find external funding to increase their security and engage in research that’s going to add value to the state.
Tate said it’s a historic memorandum of understanding between the school to develop talent and protect the state’s ports from cyber threats. Tate said a vulnerable port can have major repercussions.
“Every business, small and large, is at risk for a cyberattack. And the reality is our distribution systems are what? The second largest distribution system in this country. If it’s shut down by cyberattacks, you shut down the United States economy,” said Tate.
In modern warfare, the first thing an enemy does is launch a cyberattack. Tate said then once the infrastructure is under their control next come bombs and missiles.
“We’ve got to keep our infrastructure safe so that agriculture, energy and all the different industries that manifest in our state can be secure and they all use the ports,” said Tate.
LSU’s Cybersecurity Program has the National Security Agency designation as a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations.
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