[11/5/2010]--Recent news about the renegade computer program Stuxnet — designed to invade operating systems in targeted power plants — is a reminder of both the pervasive influence of technology on modern society and the resulting vulnerabilities. President Barack Obama, calling for the nation to focus on cybersecurity, remarked on this irony: "The very technologies that empower us to create and to build also empower those who would disrupt and destroy."
Higher education must address three important priorities. First, we need to produce many more graduates with expertise in cybersecurity in response to what the Center for Strategic and International Studies recently called a "desperate shortage" of cybersecurity specialists. Currently, Maryland's institutions are quickly expanding existing programs and developing new ones to address this shortage.
The University System of Maryland has made science and engineering education a priority, and several of its institutions are focusing on cybersecurity. For example, at UMBC we will continue to be a major producer of STEM graduates while also working closely with the corporate community, as well as state and federal agencies, to implement new graduate programs in cybersecurity that target the skills most needed.
Basic and applied research are fundamental to reshaping the way we secure computer hardware, software and networks. University researchers (at UMBC and elsewhere) are already engaged in exciting and important work in this area with the Department of Defense, much of which also has potential for non-military applications.
Long-term global leadership in information technology depends on developing and executing a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy. Strong partnerships among our universities, industry, the State of Maryland and the federal government will be critical to strengthening cybersecurity and reducing the mounting risks faced each day by government, business and American citizens using the Internet.
Richard Forno is director of UMBC's graduate cybersecurity program.
Original Story: http://www.gazette.net/stories/11052010/policol192137_32540.php
