IBM Helps Bridge the Cyber Security Skills Gap by Partnering with More an 00 Global Universities

ARMONK, N.Y. - 15 Nov 2013: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that it is adding eleven additional schools to its more than 200 partnerships with universities around the globe, focusing on collaborating to bring cyber security skills into the classroom. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment in the cyber security field is expected to grow rapidly, increasing 22 percent by 2020. As organizations transmit and store more sensitive information electronically, the need for employees with experience in cyber security will be imperative in order to protect data in the cloud, mobile devices and traditional computing.

As part of IBMs Academic Initiative, the company is launching new curriculum and programs focusing on cyber security with Fordham University, Georgia Institute of Technology, San Jose State University, Southern Methodist University, Technische Universit t Darmstadt in Germany, Temasek Polytechnic in Singapore, Universidad Cenfotec in Costa Rica, Universiti Kebangsaan in Malaysia, The University of South Carolina, University of Texas at Dallas, and Wroclaw University of Economics in Poland.

"As our planet becomes more interconnected though new technology like cloud computing and the proliferation of mobile devices, interdisciplinary education for cyber security is essential," said Dr. Mark Harris, Assistant Professor, Integrated Information Technology Program, The University of South Carolina. "This is a challenge that IBM is proactively addressing, largely by partnering with academic programs and encouraging higher levels of skill development to address these new world challenges."

The number of cyber security academic programs around the world has increased significantly over the past decade. One reason for this growth is the very strong demand from industry and government for trained professionals as both of these market segments are facing a significant skills gap. In fact, over half of industry respondents in a recent survey by Frost & Sullivan said that they had too few information security workers on staff. A UK government report said that it may take 20 years to address the current cyber security skills gaps.

To help rectify this situation, IBMs Cyber Security Innovation Program is designed to help facilitate collaboration with educators around the globe to teach students cyber security skills needed to be competitive in a rapidly changing work environment. With this program, IBM combines its leadership in developing and innovating security products, services and solutions for clients with its long-standing relationship with the academic and research community.

Developing security intelligence skills for the 21st century, including the ability to proactively predict, identify and react to potential threats has taken on a new priority in the digital age, said Marisa Viveros, Vice President of IBM's Cybersecurity Innovation Program. Our security skills development programs are designed to address the most urgent areas of security and provide expertise and training to help clients cope with the dire skills shortage."

As part of the Cyber Security Innovation Program, IBM provides:

Technology & Tools: Including access to IBM software portfolio through the IBM Academic Initiative and donated network scanners for use in research labs to monitor intrusions

Course Materials: Including a Skills Taxonomy with links to appropriate online pages on Academic Initiative, examples of university programs, security and IT services curriculum, publications and trend reports, as well as case studies and real world challenges

Faculty Awards: Given to faculty with winning proposals about how to incorporate IBM technology into its curriculum and share what they build with other universities worldwide

Announced today, the following academic institutions are joining forces with IBM:

Fordham University is collaborating with IBM on a cyber security and information fusion course for the MS in Computer Science degree program. Professor Frank Hsu, Clavius Distinguished Professor of Science, Professor of Computer and Information Science, and director of Fordham Laboratory of Informatics and Data Mining, received an IBM faculty award for his work on building or enhancing three new courses focused on cyber security at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. In addition, IBM participated in the International Conference

on Cyber Security held at Fordham University, which brings together industry, government, and academic leaders who have been teaching, researching and practicing cyber security.

Georgia Institute of Technology is partnering with IBM in an effort to update the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) standards to contain updated requirements for cyber security as part of Computer Science education. IBM also recognized Mustaque Ahamad, Professor of Computer Science at Georgia Tech, with a faculty award for the work that he and the university are doing as a leader in cyber security education.

San Jose State University is teaming with IBM for curriculum consultations with nine new faculty members who have joined 20 veteran instructors to focus on big data and cyber security training and research within the following departments and schools: Management Information Systems, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Library and Information Science, and Psychology. Professors will also be able to access big data and cyber security courseware provided by IBM, hosted on the cloud. Additionally, IBM is joining San Jose State Universitys new "Industry Advisory Council (IAC) for Cybersecurity and Big Data" which aims to encourage workforce skills development in the two subjects.

Southern Methodist University (SMU) is working with IBM to further enhance the university's strong cyber security academic programs and research initiatives. With the rece

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