Florida cashing in on cybersecurity with new schools
USF in Tampa is the latest to open a brand new school for training students on cybersecurity, according to a Feb. 6 report on Florida News Daily.
The White House proposed spending $14 billion on cybersecurity, and the Florida Center for Cybersecurity at the University of South Florida is the 12th in the state alone, with another set to open at University of Tampa.
Lawmakers and USF officials will cut the ribbon on Friday, stating that The Florida Center for Cybersecurity is part of a statewide effort to train people for jobs in cybersecurity, an industry with a huge demand for qualified people.
Just last week Anthem health was hacked and 80 million people potentially had their persoanl information compromised.
Sri Sridharan, who heads the Florida Center for Cybersecurity at USF, said the center is offering a master’s degree and certificate programs in cybersecurity.
“Technology is probably only about 30 percent,” said Sridharan. “The other 70 percent has to do with cyber intelligence, digital forensics, policy, information assurance, compliance and so on and so forth.”
In the center, there are huge monitors with Norse tracking data, the world’s largest database of live cyber threats with the US being the number one target, the new reports state.
“This is happening on a routine basis and there’s national security threatened,” Sridharan said. “The national economy can be threatened, and of course, private citizens information is stolen and used for the wrong purposes.”
