(BLOOMINGTON, Ind.) – Indiana’s two big state universities are tackling cybersecurity.
IU’s informatics, business and law schools teamed up two years ago to create a cybersecurity program. It’s expanded to a cybersecurity clinic, working with local governments, utilities and nonprofits to shore up their defenses.
Director Scott Shackelford says the clinic’s 100 students will get hands-on experience plugging security holes and explaining to workers how to keep their networks safe. He says the multidisciplinary approach should mean better communication with employees who aren’t IT specialists themselves.
Purdue is using a $12 million federal grant to create a cybersecurity apprenticeship program, to prepare students for jobs once they graduate. Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta visited campus to make the announcement in person.
Purdue expects two-million new cybersecurity job openings in the next two years.
(Photo: Julian Stratenschulte/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)
