Five questions for ... Mike O'Leary

Photo by Kanji Takeno

TU to lead faculty training project in information assurance education

Mike O’Leary, director of the Center for Applied Information Technology, is a co-principal investigator for a $300,000 National Science Foundation grant TU received this fall to create a “second generation” faculty development program in computer security and information assurance (IA) education.

What is information assurance?

IA is managing information-related risks by protecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data and their data systems. IA examines who is allowed to use that computer and what policies are procedures are in place for that use—therefore it encompasses management as well as computer science.

How does IA education relate to homeland security?

By promoting IA in higher education we can cultivate professionals with IA expertise and therefore reduce vulnerability in our national information infrastructure. TU was eligible to apply for this specific NSF grant because it is a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education.

What is the Center for Excellence program?

It’s an outreach program designed and operated initially by the National Security Agency, now jointly sponsored between NSA and the Department of Homeland Security. TU is one of only about 80 academic institutions in the U.S. holding this designation.

Why is your grant described as “second generation?”

It follows in the footsteps of a NSF grant TU received several years ago, worth more than $500,000, to create a faculty development program for information security assurance. With that in mind, TU also developed the Maryland Alliance for Information Security Assurance (MAISA), a consortium of six universities and eight community colleges dedicated to strengthening information technology security assurance programs in Maryland’s academic institutions.

How will you use the second generation grant?

There are four parts. First, as with the first generation grant, we’ll conduct workshops and training seminars for MAISA member faculty. For example, Lynn Ray, who manages TU’s information security and compliance office, will run the first workshop, on identity theft and identity management, in January. Second, we will hold half-day or one-day forums for information assurance educators. Third, we will set up a half-dozen research partnerships between community college faculty and university faculty. These collaborations will provide community college faculty members with opportunities to examine information security assurance topics in depth. Finally, a MAISA-affiliated faculty member will spend a summer conducting research at a government agency or company through the externship component. This will build collaborative relationships between local research faculty and the wider IA community. Taken together, these efforts will contribute to Maryland’s homeland security initiatives.

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