UMBC has been redesignated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance by the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security for both Cyber Defense Research (CAE-R) and Education (CAE-IA/CD) for the academic years 2014-2021. UMBC is one of only 38 institutions in the US. that have recognized by NSA and DHS for both education and research.

The CAE educational designation includes (among other elements) a certification that our curriculum satisfies focus areas and knowledge units (KUs) as outlined in the NICE Framework. This framework aims to establish a common lexicon for students, universities, and employers for describing knoweldge and skills needed for various cybersecurity jobs. The CAE research designation signifies UMBC’s demonstrated excellence in conducting quality research activities pertaining to cybersecurity.

The CAE certification process was coordinated by Dr. Alan Sherman through the Center for Information Security and Assurance (CISA). Among other things, CISA oversees UMBC’s Federal CyberCorps Scholarship For Service program and is actively involved with cybersecurity education and research activities at UMBC, to include the upcoming Innovations in Cybersecurity Education Workshop on June 24.

In recent days, the United States and China have traded accusations about each nation’s alleged (or actual) espionage activities in cyberspace. Moreover, high-profile events like Stuxnet and recurring high-profile cyber-attacks such as the Target data breach continue to keep ‘cyber’ and cybersecurity issues in the news.

Today, CSEE’s Dr. Rick Forno, Cybersecurity GPD and Assistant Director of the UMBC Center for Cybersecurity, was a guest on PRI’s ‘The World’ where he discussed issues related to cyberwarfare, cybersecurity and the international application of cyberpower.

On Friday, May 23, WYPR’s Maryland Morning aired a segment that focused on the role that visuals have played in citizens’ understanding of the military and terrorism since September 11th. Rebecca Adelman, an assistant professor of media and communication studies and author of Beyond the Checkpoint: Visual Practices in America’s Global War on Terror, participated in the discussion along with MaryAnne Golon, director of photography at The Washington Post.

Adelman opened the conversation by discussing the role security camera footage of the September 11th highjackers played in the public view after they were released several years after the attacks.   

“What’s really interesting to me is the way that those images mark a limit of those visual systems that are designed to keep us safe,” Adelman said. “As surveillance cameras, they functioned perfectly,” she added. “But they did nothing to keep the country safe.”

Adelman also discussed what the future may hold for citizens’ perception of images of war and terror: “The relationship between state and media and citizen is going to get a lot more complex, particularly as the role of the visual in fighting the war itself changes as we talk about things like drones which have everything to do with visibility and invisibility. We’re going to hear a lot more about questions of transparency.”

You can listen to the full interview on Maryland Morning by clicking here.

On Monday, May 19, WEAA’s The Marc Steiner Show hosted a panel discussion remembering the life and legacy of Malcolm X. The day would have been his 89th birthday. American Studies Assistant Professor Kimberly Moffitt participated in the discussion and shared her thoughts on why Malcolm X might not play as significant a role with young learners as other activists during his time.

“A lot of that has to do with him not fitting the paradigm of what we consider to be acceptable activism,” Moffitt said. “At that point in time, even in the midst of a very radical period in our country’s history, he was seen as an extremist by many.”

Other panelists in the discussion included Karsonya Wise Whitehead, an assistant professor of communication and African and African American studies at Loyola University Maryland and Ray Winbush, Director of the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University.

To listen to the full segment that aired on The Marc Steiner Show, click here. Moffitt is co-editor of Blackberries and Redbones: Critical Articulations of Black Hair/Body Politics in Africana Communities.