Georgia Details Plans for New Cybersecurity Center

Georgia Details Plans for New Cybersecurity Center

Georgia CIO said the new facility will be used to train Army Cyber Command personnel and state and local IT workers.

  • By Sydny Shepard
  • Oct 24, 2018

Three months after its grand opening, Georgia officials are detailing plans for its new $100 million Cyber Center. 

The center, located on the campus of Augusta University, is designed as a home for cybersecurity training, an incubator and accelerator for startup companies and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's new cybercrime unit. The center will also bring in personnel from the University System of Georgia, the state department of defense and other public- and private-sector parties. 

"It is making us a national leader in cyber. training and education, and already is attracting talented students to Augusta who will in turn become highly training cybersecurity professionals," Augusta University President Brooks Keel said in a press release in July. 

This week at the National Association of State Chief Information Officers annual conference in San Diego, Calvin Rhodes, Georgia's Chief Information Officer, gave a presentation detailing the future plans for the Cyber Center.

Rhodes said that the cybersecurity training and research center was already 70 percent full and will soon be a truing ground for military and civilian personnel alike. 

State and local government employees from across the state will also use the new center to learn better cybersecurity practices, which will allow them to get much more hands-on training, Rhodes said. New training courses will be much more intensive.

"What’s different now is that you’ll still have that lecture, you might have some coursework to do, but that’s 25 percent or less of the class," he told StateScoop. "The 75 percent is that you’re sitting in some scenario that’s been designed by the center, and showing people what you can do but more importantly what you cannot do."

Rhodes said the Cyber Center's facilities will be able to replicate state government systems for training simulations, a practice that is oftentimes used by large corporations. Practicing cybersecurity breakdowns in a life-like environment could help prevent more situations like the ransomware attack that hit Atlanta in March.

Image from cybercenter.com/geogia.gov/gallery/aerial-photos.

About the Author

Sydny Shepard is the Executive Editor of Campus Security & Life Safety.

Featured

  • The Future is Happening Outside the Cloud

    For years, the cloud has captivated the physical security industry. And for good reason. Remote access, elastic scalability and simplified maintenance reshaped how we think about deploying and managing systems. But as the number of cameras grows and resolutions push from HD to 4K and beyond, the cloud’s limits are becoming unavoidable. Bandwidth bottlenecks. Latency lags. Rising storage costs. These are not abstract concerns. Read Now

  • The Impact of Convergence Between IT and Physical Security

    For years, the worlds of physical security and information technology (IT) remained separate. While they shared common goals and interests, they often worked in silos. Read Now

  • Unlocking Trustworthy AI: Building Transparency in Security Governance

    In situations where AI supports important security tasks like leading investigations and detecting threats and anomalies, transparency is essential. When an incident occurs, investigators must trace the logic behind each automated response to confirm its validity or spot errors. Demanding interpretable AI turns opaque “black boxes” into accountable partners that enhance, rather than compromise, organizational defense. Read Now

  • Seeking Innovative Solutions

    Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. You may recognize these terms as the “5 Phases” of a grieving process, but they could easily describe the phases one goes through before adopting any new or emerging innovation or technology, especially in a highly risk-averse industry like security. However, the desire for convenience in all aspects of modern life is finally beginning to turn the tide from old school hardware as the go-to towards more user-friendly, yet still secure, door solutions. Read Now

  • Where AI Meets Human Judgment

    Artificial intelligence is everywhere these days. It is driving business growth, shaping consumer experiences, and showing up in places most of us never imagined just a few years ago. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden Door Controls has relaunched its CV-7600 card readers in response to growing market demand for a more secure alternative to standard proximity credentials that can be easily cloned. CV-7600 readers support MIFARE DESFire EV1 & EV2 encryption technology credentials, making them virtually clone-proof and highly secure.

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises.

  • Unified VMS

    AxxonSoft introduces version 2.0 of the Axxon One VMS. The new release features integrations with various physical security systems, making Axxon One a unified VMS. Other enhancements include new AI video analytics and intelligent search functions, hardened cybersecurity, usability and performance improvements, and expanded cloud capabilities