Univ of Calgary and JAWS to produce next generation of Internet security specialists

A new million-dollar facility will open this fall in Calgary which promises a new option for companies seeking security products, interoperability testing and training. The eSecurity Innovation Centre is opening in a new University of Calgary facility, jointly funded by the university and Toronto-based JAWS Technology Inc. The project is intended to ensure a stream of fresh new grads for the security software and hardware fields, and help companies achieve global certification for next-generation products. Security experts have, in the past, bemoaned the status of security as a poor cousin in the IT constellation of specialties. Protection has often been an afterthought when designing networks, with most specialists in the field learning on the job at government and civilian military or police groups. A wave of high-profile security breaches recently, including the hijacking of tens of thousands of credit card numbers and denial of service attacks on the web's most prominent sites, has pushed security concerns to the fore. The eSecurity Innovation Centre is likely to be one of several similar institutions that sprouts in Canada in the coming months. The project came about on the initiative of Tom Keenan, dean of the University of Calgary's faculty of continuing education. He is a security expert who has, in past, taught courses on the subject. He approached JAWS, which has a vested interest in ensuring a supply of trained engineers and technologists, and the two agreed to set up the new centre. Revenue will likely be generated since the centre acts as a private training school for industry, and plans to credit students for work done in the lab. JAWS staffers say there's little likelihood that actual research or development will be done in the facility. Rather, a lab will be set up for interoperability and certification testing. For the time being, the partnership is limited to JAWS and the university. The lab's general manager, Caroline Baynes, says they are actively looking for more members to bolster the testing facility's broad capabilities and to help defray the cost of running and staffing the $1-million facility. Zak Karbolai, with the university's faculty of continuing education is responsible for overseeing the university's role in the project. Eventually, Baynes says a full-time lab assistant will be hired to run day-to-day operations. JAWS is an electronic security company which sells consulting services and some encryption software. Company spokespeople say the firm's interest in establishing and jointly funding the centre is to create awareness about the company, and fits in with JAWS' educational mandate which sees its executives traveling across North America to teach students and companies about security. Ensuring fresh graduating talent in the security field also tops JAWS' list of reasons for participating. In the foreseeable future, grad students working in the lab, helping with certification and testing, won't receive credit for their work, but Baynes says JAWS is working with university staff to move in that direction.

Univ of Calgary and JAWS to produce next generation of Internet security specialists

Broadcast | May 4, 2000

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us