UMD Re-designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Research

The National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have re-designated the University of Maryland as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Research (CAE-R) through 2024.

The goal of the program, which is jointly sponsored by the NSA and DHS, is to reduce vulnerability in the national information infrastructure by promoting higher education and research in cyber defense and producing professionals with cyber defense expertise.

“Your ability to meet the increasing demands of the program criteria will serve the nation well in contributing to the protection of the National Information Infrastructure,” states Rory A. Smith, national CAE-R program director at the NSA, in an official notification letter to the Maryland campus.

Much of UMD's strength in cybersecurity comes from the Maryland Cybersecurity Center (MC2), a multidisciplinary effort that brings together faculty, researchers and students who are addressing the latest challenges in wireless and network security, secure software, privacy in social networks, cybersecurity policy, cryptography, multimedia forensics, and economics of security.

MC2 is one of seven major centers in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies. The center is jointly supported by the A. James Clark School of Engineering and the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences.