Cybersecurity Awareness Month

October 2021

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Cybersecurity Awareness Month – observed every October – was created as a collaborative effort between government and industry to ensure every American has the resources they need to stay safer and more secure online.

 View full article here.

 

Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco Announces New Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative

October 2021

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Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco announced today the launch of the department’s Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative, which will combine the department’s expertise in civil fraud enforcement, government procurement and cybersecurity to combat new and emerging cyber threats to the security of sensitive information and critical systems.  The Government is preparing to pursue new False Claims Act cases against DoD contractors who misrepresent their cybersecurity compliance status. Just last week, Deputy Attorney General Monaco said “We are announcing today that we will use our civil enforcement tools to pursue companies, those who are government contractors who receive federal funds, when they fail to follow required cybersecurity standards”.

 See full news release.

 

Center of Excellence puts New Mexico at the forefront of cybersecurity

October 1, 2021

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Partnership between the State and New Mexico Tech grows innovation and the economy - read the details in the press release from the New Mexico Higher Education Department.

Burning Glass Technologies report "After the Storm" identifies cybersecurity as one of the four sectors for the Readiness Economy.

February 2021

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For Cybersecurity, "Private companies and governments alike have succumbed to cyberattacks as an increasing amount of work has moved online. Cybersecurity roles will lead the way in ensuring businesses and the public sector are ready for future global crises."  The remote economy is primarily a college educated one and the rediness ecomony has the richest opportunities for middle skill workers with spcialized training. Visit burning-glass.com for the full report.  The baseline growth expected for cybersecurity is over 37%.

The SWSIS program provides scholarships of up to $10,000 for women studying for their Bachelors and Masters degrees in fields relating to information security.

December 15 - February 1

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https://cra.org/cra-wp/scholarships-and-awards/scholarships/swsis/

Cyber Programs Engage Future Workforce

September 24,2020 / Sandia LabNews

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The growing demand for cybersecurity professionals around the globe puts a premium on those in the industry and makes cybersecurity a critical skill area at Sandia.

Sandia Newsletter Features Techies For Cybersecurity Internship Work

September 24,2020 / Sandia LabNews

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Computer science students helped lead cyber "Capture the Flag" event for 41 students.

NM Tech No. 4 for Hispanic-Serving Colleges

September 21, 2020 | Albuquerque Journal/Business Outlook

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4th in the nation for Hispanic-Serving Institutions and top university overall in the state according to Niche.

John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2019

August 13, 2020

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The John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 became effective as of August 13, 2020. An overview article is available. 

The bottom line is that companies need to ensure they have none of the prohibited foreign technology being used in day-today operations or they may not be able to contract with any federal agencies unless we have an explicit waiver. In particular new terms and conditions say “Prohibition on certain telecommunications and video surveillance services or equipment” will be incorporated in the revised Grants and Cooperative Agreement Manual and all financial assistance instruments awarded on or after August 13, 2020, including supplements to existing awards. Note the wording is "include telecommunications gear-makers Huawei and ZTE, as well as video surveillance manufacturer Hikvision, Hytera Communications Corporation, Dahua Technology Company, as well as their subsidiaries and affiliates"; it is not enough to just look at the 5 companies. We found two listings of subsidiaries and affiliates: from Univ. of Maryland and and Univ. of Central Florida. The UMD list appears more complete so we recommend you use that. If you want the details from the Federal Acquisition Register, the entry is here.

Entering into agreements with these companies or their subsidiaries can place the university at risk for losing federal grants and contracts.

Summer Institute opens Internship Positions

May 1, 2020

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Working with Sandia National Laboratories, NMT Cybersecurity Centers are hiring summer interns to work on TracerFIRE. Students will develop new and/or enhance existing scenarios for TracerFIRE including OT (Operational Technology) with energy production security themes that may involve nuclear power plants, and traditional power generation facilities. Students must be US Citizens with a minimum GPA of 3.0; Junior standing is preferred.  Applications are due by May 15th in Handshake. Students should apply asap for full consideration. Look for posting #3750915.

Team with Four NMT Students WINS Kernelcon Capture the Flag

March 25-28, 2020

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Location: ENMU-Ruidoso Room 120, 709 Mechem Dr, Ruidoso, NM 88345.

Four students from NMT and one Idaho National Laboratory Staff member (Bryan) won the Annual Kernelcon Capture the Flag competition. The NMT members were Shadron Gudmunson, Spencer Merrill, Owen Parkins, and Raymond (Luke) Rindles.  Kernelcon confers on the winning team their coveted Eternal Kernel badges.  In addition, the group has been invited to participate on a DefCON qualification team.

Congratulations to our Victorious Cyber Warriors. Good job Shad, Spencer, Owen, and Luke.

Vince Urias - Theodore Roosevelt Government Leadership Award Winner 

August 13, 2019

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Government Executive Media Group announced the winners of the inaugural Theodore Roosevelt Government Leadership Awards. Vince Urias, a current PhD student and alumnus of NMT, was announced as one of the inaugural leadership winners in the category of Defender. Vince is being recognized for his work on HADES (High-Fidelity Adaptive Deception and Emulation System), a system that applies "revolutionary technology to increase the realism of honeypots and instantly redeploy gathered intelligence for network defense".