TEEX receives grant to develop new cybersecurity course

COLLEGE STATION – TEEX’s National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center (NERRTC) will expand its cybersecurity course offerings thanks to a Continuing Training Grant awarded by the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to five university-based centers that have partnered and collaborated to form the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium (NCPC).

NCPC members are the University of Memphis Center for Information Assurance; University of Arkansas System Criminal Justice Institute; University of Texas at San Antonio’s Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security; Norwich University Applied Research Institutes; and TEEX’s National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center. The members blend their cyber terrorism and incident response education programs in order to provide nationwide critical infrastructure protection training.

As a part of this competitive award, TEEX/NERRTC will develop a scenario-based, simulation-supported course on Cybersecurity Incident Management and Response.

The course will include multiple simulated cyber environments to provide cyber response and mitigation experiences across key critical infrastructure sectors. The course will assist state and local jurisdictions, including private sector and small businesses, in developing a multi-discipline, team-based approach in responding to large-scale or expanding incidents involving cybersecurity, said Hank Lawson, Director of NERRTC, a national center operated by the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service.

The NCPC is organized around the Community Cyber Security Maturity Model (CCSMM) that emphasizes cybersecurity as the responsibility of the “whole community.” The whole community includes the public and private sectors, as well as any individual within the community who accesses the internet or a computer network.

TEEX/NERRTC will receive $761,000 to develop the course as a part of the $2.3 million awarded to the NCPC through the Continuing Training Grants to better prepare the country to defend itself against continuous cyber attacks and intrusions.