UNLV has received a series of recent grants totaling over $3 million to support cybersecurity education and community programming. The grants will also support programs that assist local small businesses in securing their cyber infrastructure in a world of rising, and increasingly devastating, cyber attacks.
The latest grant - $500,000 from Google’s Cybersecurity Clinics Fund - comes on the heels of a $650,000 award from the Small Business Administration and a $2 million grant from the National Security Agency.
The investments will primarily bolster the efforts of the Free Cyber Clinic, an organization founded in 2021 and led by UNLV Computer Science professors Yoohwan Kim and Juyeon Jo with support from a dedicated group of UNLV students, to help southern Nevada small businesses reduce the risk of hacking, ransomware, phishing attacks, and other cybercrimes. The average cost of recovery from a cyber attack is $25,000, with a quarter of small businesses suffering at least one cyber attack a year.
To date, the clinic — with support from the UNLV Office of Economic Development and the Nevada Small Business Development Center — has helped over a dozen local clients identify vulnerabilities in their computer systems and protect them from online threats.
“There is a growing need for cybersecurity services in every sector of the industry, but there is not enough supply of the cybersecurity professionals with the right experience,” said Juyeon Jo, clinic co-director and director of UNLV’s National Center of Academic Excellence in cybersecurity. “The students from our clinic program will be equipped with real-world experiences and be able to fill this gap. The grants we have received will help us recruit and train more students interested in cybersecurity careers, and strengthen UNLV’s cybersecurity program overall.”
Since UNLV’s designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education in 2019, the university’s commitment to being a powerhouse in cybersecurity education and workforce development has magnified, as evidenced by the creation of the clinic, an interdisciplinary master’s program in cybersecurity, and investments in one of UNLV’s fastest growing degrees, computer science.
And the investments make sense. According to CyberSeek.com, there are more than 550,000 cybersecurity-related jobs open across the nation. The investments also mirror recent efforts by the federal government to create a National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy.
But getting students interested in cybersecurity and joining the cyber workforce begins even before students enroll at UNLV. This summer, UNLV’s GenCyber Camp — a weeklong summer program that introduces local high schoolers to the field of cybersecurity and what it takes to join an increasingly in-demand field — celebrated its fifth anniversary. The camp, one of several community outreach programs offered by the UNLV College of Engineering each summer, has grown increasingly innovative, with the debut of the first-of-its-kind cybersecurity escape room this year.
The money will primarily help the Free Cyber Clinic advance its programming, increase the number of trained students, and, as one of the earliest models of its kind, spread its success to a national audience. AT&T also recently donated $20,000 to support the clinic’s efforts.
“Despite the worker shortage, cybersecurity jobs are not easy to come by without hands-on experience, and the cybersecurity clinic is one of the most effective ways to solve this dilemma,” said clinic director Yoohwan Kim. “The UNLV Free Cyber Clinic has been training our student members with the skills needed to serve real-world clients as well as fundamental cybersecurity knowledge and industry-recognized certifications. As a result, many of our students are acquiring internships and full-time jobs in cybersecurity without difficulty. These grants are a recognition of our success and a great encouragement to boost our efforts.”
UNLV is currently part of the Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics, an organization working to launch a university, college, or community-college based clinic in all 50 states by 2030. The most recent award from Google.org, the company’s philanthropic arm, is part of a $20 million collaboration with the consortium that Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, announced in June of this year. In addition to grant funding, Google is offering UNLV volunteer mentorship from Google employees, Google Titan Security Keys and scholarships for the new Google Career Certificate in Cybersecurity.
"These clinics have been designed to provide the next generation of professionals with the tools and resources they need to succeed in the ever growing field of cybersecurity," said Royal Hansen, Google's Vice President of Privacy, Safety, and Security Engineering. "We're proud to lend a hand to help grow a strong security workforce responsible for strengthening and protecting our infrastructure for years to come."
