"SMU’s Deason Institute To Partner With Goldman Sachs And Prairie View A&M For Cyber Security Research"
The Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security at Southern Methodist University (SMU) is collaborating with the global financial services firm Goldman Sachs, with assistance from Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU), on research to detect and defend against cyber threats posed by employees working remotely. The master research agreement aims to support a long-term research collaboration with Goldman Sachs' Global Cyber Defense and Intelligence (GCDI) team. The partners plan to use the agreement to train talent for both industry and academia, propose cyber solutions, and appear and publish in academic and industrial forums. Combining SMU and Prairie View A&M provides a unique opportunity to contribute to the development of a workforce for the high-demand US cybersecurity industry. In the most recent workforce study conducted by (ISC)2, a global cybersecurity professional organization, two-thirds of participants reported that a cybersecurity staffing shortage is putting their organizations at risk, and 73 percent reported that hands-on cybersecurity experience is the most important factor in determining whether a candidate is qualified for a job. Students at SMU and Prairie View will gain hands-on experience with Machine Learning for cyber defense, working with and expanding the capabilities of cutting-edge software, according to Eric Larson, SMU associate professor of computer science and co-principal investigator in the Goldman Sachs research project with Deason Institute Executive Director Mitch Thornton. This article continues to discuss the new cybersecurity research partnership.