National Guard, HutchCC Come Together for Cybersecurity

By Sarah Newberry
Staff writer
IG: @luv2dance43

The cybersecurity partnership with the Kansas National Guard is more than a bridge; it’s the future. Although the cybersecurity initiative partnership is in its infancy, many doors are opening, and opportunities are arising. It started as something simple and is turning into something that could be much-needed for Kansas and the country.

 “There was a proclamation signed by our college president and several members from the Kansas government to create a bridge between the National Guard and community colleges,” Jesse Newberry, the Computer Support Associate Professor at HutchCC, said.

There’s always a need for cybersecurity, and the field is constantly changing. The 184th Wing of the National Guard plays a key role in this team of community colleges and the military. They offer expertise and guidance on this project.

“The 184th wing is responsible for security, network security, and cybersecurity in the United States,” Newberry said.

When people think of rural areas, or of Kansas specifically, they might overlook Kansas because it’s a flyover state. Some might think that we would never be the victim of such an attack, but that’s when attackers take advantage of it.

“For rural communities, if I were putting myself in the hacker’s shoes, am I going to go after someone like Amazon that has dedicated security teams or somebody in a more rural area that may or may not have an on-staff IT person,” Jamie Smith, a Computer Support Specialist Instructor at HutchCC, said.

Kansas is one of those places where, if there aren’t preparations in place, it could be easily attacked and taken down. That’s why the National Guard and HutchCC, among other community colleges in Kansas, are building something to defend against and prepare for a possible attack.

“I think there’s more emphasis going to be put on infrastructure in Kansas about water, gas, power, agriculture, and the National Guard would like to work on creating a pipeline into their cybersecurity operations,” Newberry said.

This cybersecurity partnership has high standards and is using some of the best people and technology for this project.

“The systems we’re training them on here are the same systems that large corporations use that everyone uses around the country,” Newberry said.

The National Guard plays a key role in providing guidance and training to help students succeed, as well as professors. New programs and curricula are in the works to train in cybersecurity. Although this project is still in its early stages, this partnership will have a tremendous impact in the years to come and will change how people and professors teach cybersecurity.

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