USC and McMaster announce a cyber initiative that promises to create jobs in SC

The University of South Carolina and S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster announced plans to create a new “cyber ecosystem” that promises to create jobs in the Palmetto State.

The cyber program will begin with a survey of the state’s cyber “assets,” which include hospitals, energy companies, the military and more, said Bill Kirkland, the executive director of USC’s Office of Economic Engagement, at a Thursday press conference.

Kirkland expects the survey to be finished by the end of the year, he said.

Once the survey shows USC what cybersecurity services government agencies and corporations need, USC will tailor its programs to those needs, with the hope of attracting more industries to the state, Kirkland said.

“This is almost like a dream come true,” McMaster said at the press conference. “The cyber-world is...a new frontier for technology, for innovation, for imagination.”

“We intend to participate greatly in this new, cyber frontier,” McMaster said.

USC President Robert Caslen has been focused on cybersecurity since he arrived at USC in the summer of 2019. While Caslen was the superintendent of the U.S Military Academy at West Point, the U.S. Army opened the Cyber Institute at West Point, according to a 2014 news release from the Army.

“We see this as a tremendous opportunity,” Caslen said during the press conference.

“The long-term goal of all of this, is after we do the mapping and the inventory, and see where the cyber-demands are, where the cyber resources exist, then you have a better idea of where the growth is and the management of all that will be a partnership with us standing up a SC Cyber Institute that will manage cyber requirements, cyber growth, cyber partnerships, particularly with Fort Gordon.”

Fort Gordon, in Augusta, Georgia, is home to the U.S. Army’s Cyber Center of Excellence.

Creating a cybersecurity program at USC could draw federal research money and help prepare USC graduates for the workforce in a growing field, Caslen and other USC officials have said in previous interviews.

However, even before Caslen became president, USC has been investing in cybersecurity programs. In 2016, USC announced the formation of a private-public, statewide partnership called SC Cyber.

The 2016 program was a response to the 2015 breach of the federal Office of Personnel Management, which compromised personal information of 20 million government employees, contractors and more, Kirkland said.

Kirkland classified SC Cyber as “more of an educational component,” where university officials were educating local businesses and residents about what cyber security is and why it’s necessary. USC now offers a cybersecurity specialization for computer science students and a cybersecurity studies certificate, according to USC’s website.

Kirkland said the new program is an extension of SC Cyber, but not a restart of the program.

“We’re taking our lessons learned, what we learned, continue to grow that and listen to more folks in the community,” Kirkland said. “And from that we’re going to build programs.”