CybersecurityNorwich University receives $10 million for cybersecurity research

Norwich University in Vermont has secured another round of funding for cybersecurity research. $9.9 million in federal funds will go toward a project aiming to ensure that private and public sector groups can better plan for cyberattacks.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) made the announcement at a press conference in Northfield, Vermont, where Norwich is located.

ThreatPost reports that the university’s Applied Research Institute (NUARI) will direct the money for its Distributed Environment for Critical Infrastructure Decision-making Exercises (DECIDE) program. DECIDE is developing software that helps corporations defend against cyberattacks. The program is funded through DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and S&T’s Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA). With the new funding, the program will be updated to “improve the exercise’s user interface and to expand the segments of the financial industry that can be involved in such exercises in the future,” according to the program’s press release.

NUARI’s president Phil Susmann sees the benefits of DECIDE as a learning experience beneficial to the institute’s objectives. “Realistic training, with measurable consequences to an organization’s value chain, encourages individual and institutional information sharing, cooperation and coordination,” Susmann said during the funding’s press conference.

Leahy has helped the university secure two rounds of funding, with this one being the most recent. In 2009 Senator Leahy secured $7.7 million for the university to train police and fire departments in computer security skills and lay the foundation for DECIDE. Leahy serves as the most senior member of the senate’s Appropriations Committee and its Defense Subcommittee which handles the Senate’s work in writing the annual defense budget bill. Leahy also is a senior member of the Appropriations panel that writes DHS’s annual budget bills.

“It always impresses me — but never surprises me — when I hear about Norwich University’s success readying our military and security leaders for today’s challenges while continuing its historic mission of developing the military leaders of tomorrow,” said Leahy. “This $9.9 million in additional contracts will keep Norwich growing in the crucial and cutting-edge arena of cyber security, and growing as an essential part of the community in Northfield,” he said.

ThreatPostnotes that Vermont does not have a reputation as a cybersecurity hub, but Norwich University has gained such credit over the decade. In 2002 Congress named the university a national resource for counterterrorism and cybercrime. As cybersecurity gains more attention as a result of increases in cyber threats, Norwich becomes a more important player in the prevention and training to fight cyberattacks.