Unlike LSU’s earlier SOCs, which primarily defended university systems, the new initiative targets two issues affecting industry clients outside the university ecosystem: the shortage of cybersecurity talent overall, and the reliance upon outsourced services. In a 2024 survey of 870 IT security professionals worldwide by the web design company Foundry, 82 percent of respondents said they relied on outsourced or overseas agencies for cybersecurity services. LSU's news release described TigerSOC as a U.S.-based alternative, intended to be more affordable while developing new talent, created in partnership with AWS and the software company Splunk.
The center is student-run, providing cybersecurity training, oversight and coverage to TekStream customers 24/7, although TekStream staff takes over when students aren’t available. The news release said the program trained "approximately a dozen students" initially, who might earn up to 1,000 hours of experience in a year, tracked through a dashboard that logs activities they completed and cybersecurity events they handled. Graduates might leave not only with the skills of a midlevel engineer, but a portfolio of work to show prospective employers. The news release said companies that use TigerSOC’s services can hire graduates directly from the program.
“We’re excited TigerSOC is not only paving the way for LSU graduates to be successful, but we also hope it sets a new industry standard for the level of hands-on education undergraduate students can receive on their path to long-term career success,” LSU CIO Craig Woolley said in a public statement.
The program is modeled after LSU’s first student-run SOC, launched in 2023 to serve higher education institutions in Louisiana. That initiative was developed with TekStream and Splunk to recruit and train students for cybersecurity monitoring on LSU’s Shreveport campus and partner institutions across the state. The SOC now serves 38 colleges and universities, either through creating new SOCs at those institutions or providing services out of the LSU Shreveport campus.
These programs are not limited to cybersecurity majors, and the centers guide students toward areas of cybersecurity that best align with their academic progress.
“There is a significant need for upskilling and developing new talent across the workforce. Meanwhile, the global economy is forcing many to tighten their budgets. Nearly 60 percent of current industry practitioners fear existing skill shortages put their organizations at risk,” TekStream CEO Rob Jansen said in a public statement. “TigerSOC offers public and private entities an opportunity to invest in affordable, domestic talent while building the future of the workforce.”
