This Whatcom Community College, Anvil partnership will tackle the rise of cyber attacks
Using a cyber attack to cripple a company or a government agency is more prevalent and sophisticated than ever, so a new training center in Bellingham to combat this trend can’t come soon enough.
Whatcom Community College unveiled its new National Cybersecurity Training and Education Cyber Range training center last month on Anvil Corp.’s campus near Bellingham International Airport. The goal of the Cyber Range is to train students in defeating what is becoming a wide range of new attacks on computer systems.
It will be primarily used by WCC students in the cybersecurity program and in academic internships. Currently, that’s around 25 students, but is expected to grow, said Marni Saling Mayer, director of communications and marketing for WCC. The entire cybersecurity program at WCC has five full-time and six adjunct instructors.
The Cyber Range will hopefully be a model that can be used throughout the U.S., said Kathi Hiyane-Brown, WCC president.
“Launching this center with Anvil at their Bellingham campus is the perfect example of the power and momentum that can be achieved by collaborating with our industry partners. These relationships benefit our local community and beyond and are critical to preparing our students to enter the workforce with competitive skills,” said Hiyane-Brown.
The number of jobs for cybersecurity experts is expected to grow by 33% in the next decade, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. About 16,300 openings for information security analysts are projected each year. According to WCC data, starting wages for its associate-level graduates are $24 an hour. Starting wages for its bachelor of applied science graduates are $35 an hour.
“It is so important to continue to fill the pipeline,” Hiyane-Brown said, referring to the huge need for cybersecurity experts.
Cyber attacks are not only becoming harder to defend against, but are increasing, which has the attention of Anvil, an engineering firm that is one of Whatcom County’s largest employers. The company, which is based in Bellingham and works with refineries and other heavy manufacturers, was increasingly hearing the concern from clients about cyber attacks.
The possibility of attacking facilities like an oil refinery or a water treatment plant is a fairly recent phenomenon. Instead of operating in a closed system, changing technology meant connecting these facilities to the internet, leaving these places vulnerable to cyber attack.
That concern led to the partnership with Whatcom Community College and host the center at Anvil’s headquarters. Company officials recognized additional qualified people are needed in this field.
“The skill set of control people is changing, so we needed to fast-track these solutions,” said Ben Taylor, control systems manager at Anvil.
During an open house in May, Whatcom Community College students and staff gave demonstrations on what they will be working on at the center. Many of the tasks include simulations, like trying to prevent a cyber attack on a wastewater facility’s valve systems.
Protecting infrastructure systems is fascinating work, said WCC student Dan Lewis. It’s an area that is getting more attention in recent years and it requires working through a wide range of scenarios to build skills to defend against cyber attacks.
“Cybersecurity is so much bigger than you’d expect,” Lewis said.
