Purdue Polytechnic students, alumni and faculty are all involved with the Indiana Information Sharing and Analysis Center (IN-ISAC), which includes a security operations center (SOC) in West Lafayette.
The SOC, which is a joint partnership between the State of Indiana, Purdue and Intel, opened in October 2015 at Purdue Research Park. The center provides real-time network monitoring, vulnerability identification and threat warnings of state government computer systems. Nick Sturgeon is manager of IN-ISAC. He earned his master’s degree, specializing in cyber forensics, from the Purdue Polytechnic Institute in December 2015. The center was created by the state’s Office of Technology, which is led by Dewand Neely, a 2001 graduate of the computer and information technology program. In addition to state employees, several undergraduate students from the Department of Computer and Information Technology work there as part of the Purdue Pathmaker Internship Program. Under the supervision of two managers, the students help resolve lower-level issues.
The security operations center was highlighted during the recent RSA Conference, the world’s largest cybersecurity conference. During his presentation there, Chris Young, Intel Security Group general manager, lauded the State of Indiana’s work with Purdue University to help create the next generation of cybersecurity professionals through its security operations center. As part of his talk, he presented an Intel-produced video, which includes interviews with Neely, Sturgeon, and Stephen Elliott, professor of technology leadership and innovation and director of the International Center for Biometric Research. Some of Elliott’s students also assist in the SOC.
“We find that serving the needs of the state with authentication and security is just one of the benefits that we bring,” Elliott said.
More information:
- About IN-SIAC and the Security Operations Center.
- Coverage of Intel and Purdue at the RSA Conference, via the Christian Science Monitor.