Training Center joins National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium

COLLEGE STATION – The National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center (NERRTC), a part of the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, has become a member of the new National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium (NCPC). The consortium is working to ensure a state or community can protect its critical cyber assets and respond to a cyber event when one occurs.

The new consortium provides training at all levels and for all sectors found within a community, enabling states and communities to take an organized, coordinated approach to developing a viable and sustainable cybersecurity program.

All of the consortium members have received past DHS/FEMA funding to produce cybersecurity courses for states and communities. Since 2004, the charter members have created 18 DHS-approved cybersecurity courses, and delivered them to nearly 40,000 people.

The consortium recently received a DHS/FEMA Competitive Training Grant award to design, develop and deliver cybersecurity training by leveraging the collaborative relationships among its members to address the most urgent cybersecurity needs of states and communities. The consortium’s goal is to make effective use of funding by coordinating development efforts to ensure no duplication of training occurs.

In addition to TEEX/NERRTC, consortium members include the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS) at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), the Criminal Justice Institute (CJI) of the University of Arkansas System, the Center for Information Assurance (CIA) at the University of Memphis and Norwich University Applied Research Institutes (NUARI).

The NCPC supports the tenets of national cybersecurity doctrine, including the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace and the National Strategy for Homeland Security. The consortium’s training is based on the Community Cyber Security Maturity Model (CCSMM). Visit www.cyberpreparednessconsortium.org/.