The University of North Carolina Wilmington announced Thursday that it will expand its cybersecurity program and offer a maritime specialization, thanks to a $625,000 investment from the federal government's fiscal year 2024 budget.
This funding will be allocated to the maritime cybersecurity workforce development and research budget. The university said U.S. Rep. David Rauser, RN.C., helped secure the funding.
“The United States must strive to ensure that we have the tools necessary to deter hostile forces from targeting our nation's maritime sector,” Rauser said in a press release. “As cyber threats increase, UNCW continues to lead the way in training a highly skilled workforce to protect our nation’s maritime industry from cyber attacks that threaten our supply chain.”
In addition to developing talent and advancing research, the university will use the funding to develop a national maritime cybersecurity standard to help governments develop practices to reduce cyber risks in the maritime industry. Stated.
The university established the Cyber Defense Education Center in 2018, offering majors and minors across a variety of cybersecurity concentrations. UNCW said in a release that adding the maritime specialization builds on the university's “robust” cybersecurity curriculum and expands the university into an industry that contributes more than $5 trillion to the nation's economy.
“UNCW fosters a vibrant and collaborative cybersecurity ecosystem,” said Uruk Clark, director of the university's Cyber Center. “As North Carolina’s coastal university, we steadfastly support the blue economy, including major efforts to address the need for highly skilled maritime cybersecurity talent.”