Center for Information Assurance and Cyber Defense

The mission of the Center for Information Assurance and Cyber Defense (CIACD) is to serve South Texas as the leader in information assurance (IA) research and education, and to serve nationally as the premier Cyber Patriot educator for high school student leaders and teachers.  The goal of CIACD is to be a resource for information assurance research and education through federal and state grants and private sector contracts.  The objectives of the CIACD include the following: 

• Provide a formal organization where faculty and students can share their research, collaborate, and interact
• Maintain an online resource of key information assurance news, courses, journals, workshops, conferences, etc.
• Conduct active outreach and collaboration activities, including Cyber Patriot training
• Promote cybersecurity research and the practice of information assurance throughout the University
• Conduct an annual symposium for information assurance leaders to present sessions useful to academic and community members
• Become an NSA Center of Academic Excellence and maintain this designation.