MSU officials to receive national briefing on computer security
December 31, 2001
Mississippi State is among some two dozen universities invited to a Washington, D.C., briefing next week on the nation’s information infrastructure.
The National Security Agency-sponsored meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday [Sept. 11 and 12] will focus on the role of higher education in assuring information systems protection.
Robert A. Altenkirch, vice president for research, and computer science professor Rayford Vaughn will represent MSU.
Earlier this year, NSA named Mississippi State a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education. The designation “recognizes the university’s expertise in computer security,” Altenkirch said.
“Mississippi State is proud to be in the company of such universities as Stanford, Carnegie-Mellon and the U.S. Military Academy,” he added. “Our inclusion is due to the outstanding contributions to computer security research and education by Ray Vaughn and other faculty and students in the department.”
The nation’s top cryptology organization, NSA conducts a range of activities to protect U.S. information systems and produce foreign intelligence information. Now in its fourth year, the agency’s Center for Academic Excellence program seeks to address a growing need for improved education and training in information systems security.
The demand is such that more than 1.3 million new information technology specialists will be required in the decade prior to 2006.
“The importance of computers in personal and business communications, commerce and national security has created a need for individuals who can provide security for these systems,” Vaughn said. “Our computer science graduates are filling that need, both in the private sector and in a variety of state and federal agencies.”