If it sounds like we’ve entered the realm of a James Bond movie, you’re not far off.
Cybersecurity is a rapidly growing field, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The bureau projects that the field will see a 29 percent increase in employment by 2034, nearly three times the average growth rate for all occupations.
Gene Kingsley, cyber range manager at the Richard E. Neal Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, inside Springfield’s Union Station, said recently that thousands of people have come through the center to better their data security skills.
The center, which is run by Springfield Technical Community College, acts as a “teaching hospital” for cyber technology. It is the only cybersecurity center in Western Massachusetts.
The center is partnered with CyberTrust Massachusetts, a quasi-public organization working to protect governments, businesses and schools from surging cyber threats.
On a recent Friday afternoon, a reporter visited the Security Operations Center, known as the SOC, where Kingsley showed millions of live threats that were popping up across the globe. The room, which has a large display at its front, is filled with computers, so that student employees and professionals who work at the center can fight cyber attacks together.
“They are using the SOC to protect real municipalities, organizations and nonprofits,” said Kingsley. “They can see an attack, thwart it, and prevent future attacks.”
Kingsley declined to give specific examples of municipalities or organizations the center works to secure. Peter Sherlock, CEO of CyberTrust Massachusetts, did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
On Feb. 26, the center is offering a public event for small-business owners to better understand cybersecurity. This is for the mom-and-pop restaurants, people running their businesses from home, and for anyone trying to protect from cyber threats.
“Small-business owners will learn how to deploy skills that will secure them from the financial fallout of a breach, which are really hard to recuperate from,” said Kingsley.
The center also frequently offers classes to the public and to CyberTrust member schools, like Elms College in Chicopee and Bay Path University in Springfield.
John B. Cook, outgoing president of Springfield Technical Community College, said a long-term goal for the Cybersecurity Center is to remain “sustainable,” he said on a recent tour of the center.
“What I’m excited about is ... the rising tide of community college enrollment (that is) also helping with the sustainability,” said Cook. “There is that pathway, that pipeline, of the talent in our program ... where we always knew there was a basis.”
The field, while fast-evolving, has faced challenges in the last year, with major layoffs and new skill sets needed, according to a study conducted by International Information System Security Certification Consortium, also known as ISC2.
Cook said STCC is committed to bridging the skills gap by partnering with the Springfield Public Schools and Springfield Empowerment Zone, to provide early college pathways to young learners hoping to have a career in cybersecurity.
U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Mass., for whom the center is named, said cybersecurity is an “everyday conversation, every-hour conversation in Washington.”
Many agencies, businesses and industries have been a target of ransomware, a form of cyber attack that can lead to financial extortion, including the U.S. Department of Defense, and phishing, which are attempts to steal secure data, according to Neal.
Hackers are getting innovative, said Kingsley, the range manager.
To stay ahead, Kingsley, who has a master’s degree in information management and communication, said he stays connected with a network of organizations and people who can bring their expertise to conferences and meetups held at the center.
“All ships rise with the tide, so organizing events like that, at a facility like this, really helps Western Mass. stay front and center,” said Kingsley.
To register for the Feb. 26 event at the center, Kingsley said to follow the center’s LinkedIn page for details at tinyurl.com/fz85jkt2.
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