Louisiana Tech partnered with cybersecurity firm TekStream to create a student-run security operations center (SOC) on campus.
The SOC, which is powered by Splunk’s enterprise security solutions, is based on the firm’s Workforce Academy, which aims to accelerate the readiness of aspiring professionals — particularly veterans and students — through targeted career counseling, skills assessment, and security exposure.
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The SOC offers students hand-on cybersecurity experience by providing “a live, production-grade environment, speeding up their career readiness,” according to a press release.
“The SOC aligns alert complexity with skill development, providing the university with cost-containment leverage while ensuring students engage in threat hunting, log analysis, incident response, and risk reporting at a comfortable skill level,” the press release continues. “All activities are mapped to NIST/NICE frameworks and supported by TekStream’s expertise.”
The program aims to attract high-achieving students interested in cybersecurity careers. Louisiana Tech students who participate in the program will graduate with over two years of cybersecurity experience.
“The job market for new graduates is increasingly competitive, despite the need for new cybersecurity talent,” said LA Tech Chief Information Officer Dr. Thomas Hoover. “We’re excited to give our students the competitive advantage they need to successfully launch their careers after graduation. At the same time, our partnership with TekStream and Splunk allows us an opportunity to create a long-term, affordable solution for shoring up our cyber defenses at the same time.”
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Similar programs have successfully been established at Louisiana State University (LSU), the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), and the Austin Independent School District. The company created the framework with LSU to serve as a template that can be replicated across the public sector.
“The truth of the matter is, our industry is facing a massive problem when it comes to the growing need for new, experienced cybersecurity talent,” says Sharon Kelley, Executive Director of Information Security and CISO at NJIT. “It’s on us to help scale programs that support tomorrow’s cybersecurity workforce so that, as a whole, we can be better equipped to handle growing cybersecurity challenges.”
