GOVERNMENT

A new partnership with Lumension worth nearly $1 million will help put Missouri University of Science and Technology students at the forefront of Internet security.

The company gave Missouri S&T its Lumension Endpoint Management and Security Suite (LEMSS) with subscription licenses for 10,000 nodes for a three-year period free of charge. The software has a commercial value of $928,395. The suite integrates patch management, anti-virus, application control and device control for improved organizational security and IT operational efficiencies. It will be installed on the campus network and computers, allowing networks, servers, computers and other devices on campus to be protected by them.

This partnership will allow Missouri S&T to provide these tools to students, faculty and staff for their privately owned computers on the campus network.

“Cyber security is increasingly important in our society,” says Dr. Frank Liu, professor of computer science and director of the Software Engineering Laboratory at Missouri S&T. Liu was named interim chair of computer science in January 2013 and served in that role through the end of August. “Computers and other electronic devices are vulnerable without protection. The software obtained through this donation will protect many systems, such as computers owned by students, faculty, and staff, against virus, malware, and other malicious attacks.”

The products will also be available for research and teaching during that period, Liu says.

“We couldn’t be happier to support Missouri S&T with our security suite,” says Pat Clawson, chair and CEO of Lumension. “This partnership is a great opportunity for us to help improve the security of the institution’s data while reducing their costs so that they may focus their resources on helping students. We also see this as a great opportunity for education for work with industry. Cyber security is an important, fast-growing field with significant career opportunity for students. Our hope is that LEMSS delivers valuable, real-world experience for their students.”

“Cyber security education is vital to protect infrastructure and provide information security in the country,” Liu says. “The software includes several tools that will be available for cyber security education on the campus. Our students will gain first-hand experience with real information-security tools when they are used in a number of information security related classes.”

In addition to the software protection and research opportunities, the partnership includes plans for on-campus internships and a senior-level capstone course project to involve Missouri S&T students in developing tools for security risk assessment.

“We also will explore collaboration opportunities with the company in several other areas under this partnership, including curriculum development and research,” Liu says.