Northop Grumman, which works with the National Security Agency, donated approximately $150,000 for the electronic infrastructure of a new cyber security lab on campus, and Cal Poly spent approximately $200,000 renovating the space.
Samantha Sullivan
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The first generation of cyber security experts officially received their new lab Thursday. In a room full of excited, suit-clad individuals and not nearly enough chairs, the Cyber Lab had its dedication ceremony, marking a new era in cyber security learning for Cal Poly.
“On this day, Jan. 23, 2014, on behalf of Cal Poly and the California State University system, formally dedicate this lab as the Cal Poly-Northrop Grumman Cyber Lab,” Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong said before Northrop Grumman Chariman, CEO and President Wesley Bush — with the help of another Northrop representative — pulled back the curtain.
The cyber security field is growing quickly — so fast, in fact, it’s difficult to predict where it’s going to go, Bush said. The cyber lab has a flexible design, so as the field evolves, the lab can evolve with it, he said.
While it can operate as a stand-alone lab, Bush said it’s networked with Northrop Grumman and has the ability to reach out to other companies and into some of the national labs and government agencies.
College of Engineering Dean Debra Larson said Cal Poly has a long-term vision of being able to provide education around security, including cyber security, in a broader base across the campus.
“Our vision that we originally came up with is that we would like for every Cal Poly student to walk out and have some awareness around cyber security,” Larson said. “We don’t know how we’re going to get there.”
For now, they are focused on developing expertise in technological areas, which lands in computer science, computer engineering and electrical engineering. Currently, there are 545 students studying computer science, 495 studying computer engineering and 654 studying electrical engineering.
Larson said the university is developing the curriculum with cyber experts and working to hire faculty. Larson said in a few years, Cal Poly could have a new program called “cyber engineering” or something similar.
“Our biggest emphasis will be on learning defensive techniques,” Larson said. “Hopefully to prevent something like the recent Target breach from happening.”
Northop Grumman, which works with the National Security Agency, donated approximately $150,000 for the electronic infrastructure, and Cal Poly spent approximately $200,000 renovating the space. Representatives from McAfee and Raytheon were also in attendance.
The lab has three rooms, 32 workstations, projectors and a presentation center.
According to Armstrong, students in the lab will work with experimentation in network security, cyber defense, attack, visualization and research and development. Approximately 40 people from campus and outside Cal Poly made the lab possible, he said.
“It’s about getting more students in STEM and getting more students in engineering,” Armstrong said.
Everyone has a different definition for cyber security, Bush said. For Northrop Grumman, he said it’s the “ability to make sure, to have confidence, that it really is secure.”
This includes the transferring of information and communications as well as the ability to know that your messages are being sent to the right person with the right content, and to know that outsiders can’t read and know what you’re doing, he said.
Economic security is also a part of cyber security.
“We’ve all seen what’s been happening to some companies whose networks have been infiltrated, whether consumer data has been taken or the networks themselves have been damaged in some way,” Bush said. “So cyber security also means keeping those safe, so that economic security can be protected as well.”
According to Bush, Cal Poly’s relationship with Northrop Grumman spans many years. One of the reasons the company chose to partner with Cal Poly is the university’s “Learn By Doing” philosophy. Bush said the model is well suited for the type of work people do at Northrop.
“People who obtain degrees from Cal Poly, they just slip right in at Northrop Grumman,” Bush said, “and are immediately able to be a big part of our team.”