Governor Ned Lamont was welcomed by Fairfield’s School of Engineering Dean Andres Leonardo Carrano, PhD, and Program Director of Cybersecurity and Professor of the Practice Computer Science and Engineering Mirco Speretta, PhD, for a press conference on March 9, to discuss cybersecurity efforts in the wake of potential international threats. State of Connecticut Chief Information Officer Mark Raymond, and State of Connecticut Chief Information Security Officer Jeff Brown, joined Governor Lamont at the podium.

Dean Carrano and Dr. Speretta highlighted Fairfield’s School of Engineering and the school's MS in Cybersecurity program as a pipeline for cybersecurity efforts in the state. Notably, the work Fairfield Engineering is undertaking with non-profits in Connecticut is unique, and exemplifies the University’s commitment to service and social responsibility. 

Fairfield First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick kicked off the press conference and welcomed the Governor and his team to Fairfield. State and local leaders Senator Tony Hwang (R-28), State Representative Jennifer Leeper (D-132), and State Representative Cristin McCarthy Vahey (D-133) also participated and offered remarks.

With Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine and the increased reliance on conducting our daily lives on the Internet, the state of Connecticut is on high alert for cyberattacks. According to Governor Lamont, hackers from Russia and China are already launching cyberattacks and are looking to hack easy targets.

Lamont stated, “Sometimes it’s local hospitals, sometimes that could be a reservoir, some that could be a Department of Revenue Services at a state or municipality. That is a level of warfare that we have to protect ourselves against.”

Even though there is an increase in threats, Connecticut is well-prepared to fend off attacks. In addition to monitoring activity in states across the country, Connecticut has moved data and applications to the cloud, which allows for data recovery in the event of an attack. They have also installed multi-authentication processes, trained employees on cybersecurity, and developed relationships with the FBI, Accenture, National Guard, and Connecticut Military Department in case there is a ransomware attack.

Connecticut Chief Information Security Officer Jeff Brown said, “The most important thing is really defense in depth. We have multiple controls if something does fail or somebody does manage to get past something — there’s multiple things after that to be able to catch it.”

“The visit from Governor Lamont to the School of Engineering showcases the importance of education in cybersecurity, especially in the midst of all the events taking place around the world,” said Dean Carrano. “Around  60 percent of our engineers and computer scientists gain employment and remain in the state of Connecticut so we are helping advance the state’s economic development agenda. Also, as part of our Jesuit pedagogy, our cybersecurity students work hard to support any task (i.e., managerial or technical) that can improve the cybersecurity infrastructure of the most vulnerable nonprofit organizations.”

With such demand, Fairfield’s MS in Cybersecurity program has much to offer, and with its location in the middle of a thriving Northeast life-science corridor, cybersecurity graduates are well-positioned to gain full-time employment in the field after graduation.

The Cybersecurity program can be completed in as little as one year full-time, or two years part-time. Students can choose between a variety of core and elective coursework, from network security to ethical hacking, to network routing and switching, to software engineering methods.

For more information about Fairfield University's School of Engineering, visit fairfield.edu/engineering.