Cyber security hub comes to Pinckney
Pinckney High School will be renovated this summer to accommodate its building for a cyber security training facility.
Summer construction projects were recently approved by the Pinckney Community Schools Board of Education. The cost of the minor remodel will not exceed $75,000.
The majority of the work will occur at the high school to create a cyber security training hub for both business people and students.
Merit Network announced a partnership between Pinckney Community High School and Wayne State University last month to establish two new Cyber Range Hubs at the high school. The Pinckney district drew the attention of the Department of Defense when a group of students were involved in a Cyber Patriot Competition last year.
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“A Cyber Range Hub is a facility that will contain a computing and networking infrastructure to provide certification courses, cyber security training exercises and product hardening/testing through a direct connection to the Michigan Cyber Range,” said Rick Todd, Pinckney superintendent. “We are honored to be selected as one of the Michigan Cyber Range Hubs through the Advance Michigan Defense Collaborative.”
Todd said this is a great opportunity not only for the students, but for the surrounding communities and businesses, too. The Cyber Range will expand the current technology and cyber security education program by providing realistic, hands-on cyber security training for students.
Merit Network was a recipient of an Advance Michigan Defense Collaborative grant to establish the Cyber Range Hubs and recently conducted a request for proposals to select two locations within a 13-county region of southeast Michigan, according to a Pinckney Community Schools news release.
Todd said the renovation projects will include revamping rooms, updating carpeting, walls, and installing glass partitions.
The projects will be funded through a school bond that is used specifically for similar endeavors. The main purpose for this program is to eventually grow the program through partnerships and higher educational institutions.
Once the facility is open, software and classes will be made available to students so they can receive this training and get a better understanding of what cyber security is by simulating it in a real time environment.
The new hubs will benefit from the relationships that the Michigan Cyber Range has established with cyber security curriculum providers, industry partners and government agencies.
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Each hub will provide certification courses in over 20 cyber security disciplines, including penetration testing, computer forensics, network security and much more.
"The demand for skilled IT security professionals is extremely high, and Merit is very happy to be working with our innovative education partners in southeast Michigan to continue to develop programs to develop our regional workforce,” said Joe Sawasky, president and CEO of Merit Network. “Through focused collaboration, we're able to provide complete end-to-end programs in the Merit Cyber Range to teach, test and train the next generation of technology security professionals."
An open house showcasing the facility is planned for early November.
Contact Livingston Daily education reporter Abby Welsh Alusheff atawelsh@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @abby_welshLD.