Everything that we do has some sort of digital component in it today. From running our electicity to education, to banking to our daily lives in terms of social media, we cannot escape that.
In 2013, when I was tasked with building Cybersecurity at the University of New Haven, it existed in nothing but a bookcase in my office. Connecticut suffers from cybersecurity attacks, almost on a daily basis. How do we take on the responsibility of securing the state but also securing the country? We do that by developing a workforce that is capable, and that knows exactly what to do to respond to incidents.
We have grown to have the first active Cyber Forensics Research Laboratory in the State of Connecticut, our students have uncovered vulnerabilities that affect over 1.5 billion people worldwide. These discoveries have led to many applications patching their systems so that we can live our lives in a more secure way.
We have grown to have the first Cyberport Scholarship for Service program in the State of Connecticut, a $4 million grant was awarded to us recently. We also host the one and only Gen Cyber Camp funded by the National Security Agency and the National Science Foundation in the state of Connecticut, a camp that has been able to bring more students into our program and give them the path for a career in Cybersecurity.
And we talk about layering security. And the kids learn how to hack passwords. They learn how people are collecting information from you to hack passwords. And all of this knowledge helps them even if they never go into Cybersecurity to be better and safer citizens.
Our hacking team has done wonderful and amazing things. We have scored in top positions in national and international competitions, beaching universities with five times our enrollment. We have been able in this short period of time to score grants for three letter agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the National Security Agency, MITRE Corporation, the Office of Naval Research, and other private sector organizations.
We have grown to have the first Wiess chapter in the State of Connecticut. We have the only Cyber Operations designated programmed by the NSA in the state of Connecticut, all of this only since 2013.
We don't stop here, we don't stop being recognized as a center of excellence in Cyber Operations. We move forward, we move forward by creating a named School of Cybersecurity, Computing, and Artificial Intelligence. Our goal is to become the hub for all things technology in the state. Our goal is to continue on the success that we've built. This is your chance to be part of something extraordinary.
You need to join our mission to secure our future.
