News 07-30-2002

CMU Teaches Info Sec at Minority Colleges

Carnegie Mellon University said it would work with historically black colleges and Hispanic-serving institutions on a program to train the next generation of Internet security experts. Partners with Carnegie Mellon in the program, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), are Howard University, Morgan State University and the University of Texas at El Paso. CMU is providing educational resources that will enable Ph.D. computer scientists to teach survey-level courses in information security to advanced undergraduate and first-year graduate students at their universities. The four-week program began July 8 and continues through August 2. It is being delivered by staff of Carnegie Mellon's Software Engineering Institute (SEI) and its CERT Coordination Center, the nation's first computer emergency response team.

Sponsor: Plan Now to Present at Syllabus fall2002

Share your expertise with education technology's leaders when you present at the Syllabus fall2002 conference, November 3-5. At this, Syllabus' 4th annual autumn visit to the Boston area, faculty, administrators and IT professionals will gather at the Boston Marriott Newton Hotel to explore the latest applications of information technology in higher education institutions. Compelling technology topics presented in a collegial atmosphere is the hallmark of Syllabus' Boston conferences. Be there to set the tone with your presentation. Proposals to present at the main conference or to lead a full- or half-day seminar during the pre-conference are due by August 15. Submission guidelines, content areas and complete details can be found online at http://www.syllabus.com/fall2002/papers.asp

Naval War College Runs Digital War Game

The U.S. Naval War College and consulting firm Gartner Group Inc. last week ran a three-day war gaming exercise to assess the readiness of the United States for cyber-attacks against energy grids, telecommunications, financial institutions and the Internet. In the exercise, called "Digital Pearl Harbor," participants jointly designed a large-scale cyber-attack on the U.S. to judge the most effective methods of attack and how different industries might interact. They also wanted to judge the information requirements for successful attacks and the effort necessary for terrorists to obtain the information without compromising their identities. "The leadership in our country has stated clearly that there will be more terrorist attacks against America," said Dr. Kenneth Watman, director of war gaming at the Naval War College. "Unfortunately, there are a wide variety of ways terrorists can strike our society, and cyber-terrorism is one of them. The goal of this game is to assist the participants in identifying what forms such an attack might take and how to best react to this possibility."

Findings of Digitial Pearl Harbor will be made public in August at http://www.gartner.com

Army Offers Remote War-Fighting Courses

The U.S. Army's Battle Command Training Program (BCTP), in coordination with its Command and General Staff College (CGSC), has deployed a learning, knowledge and human capital management system. The system, mGen Enterprise, will enable soldiers in Army National Guard brigades to take classes remotely and develop war-fighting skills before arriving at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for real-time training seminars. Soldiers around the world will participate in courses at any given time, as units rotate in and out of training. Currently, 21 core classes make up a total of 88 tailored courses for soldiers offered via the mGen solution. Each soldier takes courses designed for the respective Battlefield Operating Systems (BOS). Mentors or Observer Trainers (OTs), with specialty in a respective BOS, serve as authors to the classes and can provide direct assistance to soldiers in the course.

Small Colleges Collaborate on Online Degrees

Michigan-based Jackson Community College (JCC) and Walsh College signed an agreement to provide JCC students an opportunity to finish their bachelor's degrees via the Internet. JCC students will be able to obtain a bachelor of business administration degree online by transferring a maximum of 82 credit hours in business and general education courses from JCC and then completing 45 credit hours online with Walsh College. Majors in the new program would include general business, management, or marketing. Through the partnership, Walsh College, an upper division school offering only junior and senior level course work, said it would increase its strength in business education in the Jackson area while enhancing the quality of JCC's business program.

Awards, Deals, Contracts, in Higher Education

-- The University of California signed a deal with CyberSource, a provider of electronic payment and risk management solutions, as an electronic payment processing provider. The CyberSource solution enables real-time payments via credit, debit, and procurement card and/or electronic check. It will be used within the UC system to process payments accepted over the Internet for tuition, registration and administration fees, athletic tickets and campus bookstore purchases.

-- The University of Miami said it would deploy a metro optical solution from Nortel Networks across three of its south Florida campuses. The university will establish -- through its Information Systems Institute -- an optical equipment lab dedicated to hands-on instruction. The university plans to use Nortel Networks OPTera Metro 3500 Multiservice Platform, a Sonet solution that will let the university add new, high-bandwidth services while preserving its IT infrastructure investment.

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