The LSU Stephenson Disaster Management Institute is partnering with California-based computer networking security and resiliency company Ixia in a joint Cyber Security Initiative.
In March, SDMI announced its partnership with the Louisiana National Guard with the goal of creating a cyber-resilient Louisiana. SDMI information systems program manager Lt. Col. Henry Capello said the partnership with Ixia will support this initiative, as well as other SDMI projects.
Through the use of a “Cyber Range,” Capello is training Louisiana National Guard members to respond to cyber attacks. The Cyber Range is used to create a real-world simulation of a network and possible cyber threats against it.
Capello, a Louisiana National Guard soldier and the leader of a Louisiana National Guard cyber response force, also is working on teaching industry experts how to develop cyber security.
“One of the things we like to say is, ‘We train as we fight,’” Capello said. “So, if you want to train as you fight, then you have to simulate the battlefield, if you will, and the battlefield here just so happens to be over the Internet.”
Ixia is “world-renowned” for its PerfectStorm technology and its Application and Threat Intelligence Subscription, Capello said. The partnership will give SDMI access to these two valuable technology systems.
Capello said the two technologies will allow him to simulate real-world Internet traffic and give him access to approximately 36,000 malware attacks for training purposes.
“The reason we partnered was because we both have bigger visions,” Capello said. “Both of our visions marry together in the sense that we both want to protect critical infrastructure.”
Critical infrastructures are government assets necessary to the daily operations of a society and its economy, such as transportation systems and security services.
To make training as effective as possible, Capello said the Cyber Range  requires a combination of real-world and virtual equipment to appropriately simulate the network of a critical infrastructure. 
He said creating a realistic environment can best be accomplished by bringing together SDMI’s understanding of networks and the equipment Ixia has to offer.
“The ultimate goal, of course, is to make information more secure, make networks more resilient and to protect the privacy of information and the critical infrastructures that run on these kinds of networks,” said SDMI Executive Director Col. Joseph Booth.
Formed in March 2007, SDMI’s  mission  is to develop solutions and defenses for cyber security vulnerabilities, as well as create and initiate plans to reduce the damage of cyber intrusion, Booth said. 
He said SDMI also is dedicated to educating the critical infrastructure community on its level of vulnerability and the methods available to minimize those vulnerabilities.
Its projects and initiatives require collaboration with the academic community, which includes working with College of Engineering faculty, as well as faculty from other universities both in and outside of Louisiana.
Booth said members of the academic community provide SDMI with research and opportunities, and in turn, SDMI is working on making its facilities, such as cyber labs and ranges, available to students and faculty for research.