Current Events

November 9, 2021. Lecture on Cybersecurity and Cryptocurrency. One of our Emergency Management colleagues, Mr. Jonathan Gaddy (also the director of the Calhoun County Emergency Agency), hosted an open lecture by Bijan Karimi, Assistant Vice President and Director of Business Continuity at Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, CA. Bijan previously served as Deputy Director of the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management and Emergency Services Manager at the Marin County, CA, Office of Emergency Services. He also has an extensive background in the financial services industry. Bijan spoke on the relevance of cryptocurrency as a homeland security and national security issue.

June 7, 2018. CyberEd for Administrators and Teachers Workshop. JSU-CISA hosted a one-day workshop as part of the annual CORE conference.  The Collaborative Regional Education (CORE) Initiative was funded by the highly competitive U.S. Department of Education, Investing in Innovation (i3) Grant Program. Now entering the second year of the grant, Jacksonville State University has extended offers to six regional universities to participate in a national study to expand the CORE model and implement a rigorous study of approximately 40 control and treatment classrooms in 8th-12th grades across the nation.

July 10-14, 2017. GenCyber Teacher Camp. JSU-CISA hosted another week-long Teacher Camp on cybersecurity. This workshop is jointly funded by the National Science Foundation and National Security Agency. Its mission is to train teachers who are assigned to math, science, social studies and technology courses in grades 6 through 12, who can incorporate the lessons from the camp into their classroom to create knowledgeable and safe cyber citizens.

October 20, 2016. Dr. Guillermo Francia, III, CISA Director, visited Northeast Alabama Community College (NACC) in Rainsville, AL and gave a talk on Industrial Control Systems Security and the CS-CIS Information Assurance curricula at JSU to NACC faculty and students.

October 14, 2016. CISA hosted a talk by Dr. Thomas Madden, former Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, GA. The title of the talk is "CyberSecurity--Why we Can't Win."

July 11-15, 2016. GenCyber Teacher Camp. JSU-CISA hosted a week-long Teacher Camp on cybersecurity. This workshop is one of the many GenCyber camps offered nationwide in the summer and is jointly funded by the National Science Foundation and National Security Agency. Its mission is to train teachers who are assigned to math, science, social studies and technology courses in grades 6 through 12, who can incorporate the lessons from the camp into their classroom to create knowledgeable and safe cyber citizens.

June 23-24, 2016. Control Systems Security Professional Development Workshop. JSU-CISA hosted a 2-day professional development workshop for 2-year community college and 4-year college instructors. The workshop covered control systems security curriculum development and hands-on exercises.

September, 2015. The Real-time Continuous Security Monitoring of Industrial Control Systems Through Intelligent Data Aggregation, Visualization, and Analytics Project was funded by the Department of Defense's Center for Information Assurance Education Cybersecurity Research program. 

August, 2015. The Capacity Building for Control Systems Security Collaborative Project was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Period of performance covers 36 months. 

October 04, 2014. JSU received a notification that the institution has been designated as a NSA-DHS National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance/Cybersecurity covering the academic years 2014 through 2021.

April 22, 2014. The Center for Information Security and Assurance (CISA) at JSU hosted a delegation from Northeast Alabama Community College led by Dr. Joseph Burke, Vice President and Dean of Instruction to initiate collaborative curriculum development in Information Assurance and Security with JSU. Dr. Guillermo Francia, III provided guidance on the process of acquiring CAE2Y designation from NSA.

March 11, 2014. Dr. Guillermo Francia, III, Director of the Center for Information Security and Assurance (CISA) at JSU visited Camber Corporation in Huntsville, AL to pursue collaborative research opportunities in Cybersecurity training. Among other services, Camber Corporation provides innovative solutions in Security and Intelligence. Mr. Jay Puckett, VP and CIO of Camber Corporation hosted the event.

September 19-22, 2013. Jacksonville State University fielded four team entries in the 2013 CSAW-CTF online challenge competition in NYU-Polytechnic.

September 5, 2013. Melinda Whitfield, NSA Security Academic Liaison Officer for JSU, visited CISA and talked to JSU students about various cybersecurity careers at NSA.

August 27, 2013. The Center for Information Security and Assurance (CISA) hosted Jay Puckett, VP and CIO of Camber Corporation in Huntsville, AL. The talked centered on the pursuit of research collaboration opportunities in Cybersecurity training. Among other services, Camber Corporation provides innovative solutions in Security and Intelligence. 

July 7-August 16, 2013. Dr. Guillermo Francia, III, Director of CISA, participated in the 2013 CSAW Cybersecurity Summer Research and Training Program at NYU-Polytechnic. The training program is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

June 7 and June 14, 2013. The Center for Information Security and Assurance at JSU conducted a faculty development workshop for high school and community college instructors in cybersecurity awareness training and gamification. The workshop attendees include 9 high school teachers and 7 community college instructors (from 7 high schools and 4 community colleges). Drs. Guillermo Francia, Monica Trifas, and David Thornton conducted the professional development workshop.

March 15, 2013. The Center for Information Security and Assurance (CISA) hosted Major General (Ret) Dave Bryan, President and CEO of Bryan Business Management and Technology (BBMT), LLC. presented cyber operations and security topics to JSU students and faculty. Prior to starting his own company, Major General Bryan served as the President of both the Strategic Solutions Group and the National Security Group, USfalcon, Inc. He is the former Commander of the USSTRATCOM Joint Task Force - Computer Network Defense (then JTF - Computer Network Operations to conduct both offensive and defensive cyber operations, and then JTF - Global Network Operations the predecessor to US Cyber Command). He is also formerly the Vice Director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). General Bryan is a JSU alum. 

January 8, 2013. JSU's Center for Information Security and Assurance (CISA) hosted Mr. Byung Oh Ahn, Associate Research Fellow at the Center for Defense Acquisition in the Korean Institute for Defense Analyses. Mr. Ahn joined CISA as a visiting scientist for 6 months. The research collaboration established a channel for shared research with Korean Institute for Defense Analyses and produced a journal paper on a formal framework for patch management.

Madden, CISO CDCP Presentation 2012

September 2012. The Center for Information Security and Assurance (CISA) at JSU hosted a cybersecurity presentation by Mr. Thomas Madden, Chief Information Security Officer of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) in Atlanta, Georgia. The talk covered new cybersecurity threats and techniques for a successful computer attack. Thomas Madden, CISO and member of the Senior Executive Service, is a JSU double alumnus having earned a B. S. in Business Administration and a M. P. A. in Political Science. Mr. Madden is a recipient of the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC2) US Government Information Security Leadership Award’s (GISLA) 2006 Special Recognition Award. The GISLA is awarded by the ISC2, the globally recognized gold standard for certifying information security professionals, annually to three federal government employees and is independent of professional certification. He is a nationally recognized expert in developing information security programs and a regular featured speaker at the SecureWorld conference since 2003.


September 2012. The Center for Information Security and Assurance (CISA) at JSU hosted visitors from SMU and LockheedMartin Corporation in September. The discussions with Stephen Papa and William Casper, prominent researchers in SCADA security, are primarily focused on research collaborations, utilization of the Critical Infrastructure Security and Assessment Laboratory, and grant proposal development.

August 2012. The Center for Information Security and Assurance (CISA) at JSU will host visiting research fellows from China and Korea in August-December 2012. Dr. Shenxi Zhou is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Anhui University of Finance and Economics. Mr. Byung Oh Ahn is an Associate Research Fellow at the Defense Information Division, Center for Defense Acquisition, Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.

June 2012. CISAL Principal Investigators meet with Industry Partners. Industry representatives from Southern Company, Gadsden Waterworks and Sewer, Electric Machine Corporation met with Mr. Terry Marbut and Drs. Guillermo Francia, III, David Thornton, and Nourredine Bekhouche to assess the current needs of the industry with regard to critical infrastructure protection. The discussion also covered the availability of the laboratory for testing and incubation of new technology before deployment in production mode.

May 2012. Dr. Guillermo Francia, III, Professor of Computer Science, visited the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to promote JSU’s Center for Information Security and Assurance. The discussions with two Division Leaders and staff members at ORNL are primarily focused on research collaborations, student internships, and summer faculty research experience opportunities. The JSU visiting team also includes Drs. Aaron Garrett and David Thornton of the MCIS Department and Dr. Dana Ingalsbe, Associate Professor of Technology and Engineering.

May 2012. Dr. Risk Lusk, Group Leader of the Computational Sciences and Engineering Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory visited the CISAL laboratory. Discussions focused on critical infrastructure protection research and also the need to collaborate with the ORNL Cybersecurity group.

February 25, 2011. JSU's CISA hosted the 2011 Information Security and Computer Applications Conference. The conference provided a forum for discourses in cybersecurity trends and education. Participants include researchers, practitioners, and academicians from Western Kentucky University, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, University of Alabama in Huntsville, and Auburn University.

CS/CIS Degree Programs Receive National Security Agency Certification

The National Information Assurance Education and Training Program (NIETP), which is administered by the National Security Agency (NSA), has certified JSU's CS and CIS courseware to meet all of the elements of the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS) National Training Standards for:

Information Systems Security (INFOSEC) Professionals, NSTISSI No. 4011

System Administrators (SA), CNSSI No. 4013 Entry Level

This certification adds a tremendous value to JSU's CS and CIS degrees in that an NSA certificate can now be given to each graduate who completes the set of courseware. In addition, it brings JSU one step closer to being designated as a national Center of Excellence in Information Assurance Education.

The course mapping work was performed during the summer months by Drs. Guillermo Francia, III, Monica Trifas, and Aaron Garrett of the MCIS Department.