RIT President Albert Simone and Kevin Weiss, executive vice president of worldwide sales and services at McAfee, will kick off the day's events with a welcoming address at in the Golisano College auditorium. "McAfee Day," as the event will be called, will also feature a keynote address by Stuart McClure, senior vice president of risk management product development at the company. McClure is considered one of the leading authorities in information security and is the author of Hacking Exposed and Web Hacking: Attacks and Defense.
The company recently donated more than $1 million in next-generation intrusion prevention technology to GCCIS to launch the college's master's program in computer security and information assurance. McAfee's solutions have been integrated into several curricula including the computer system security course, in which undergraduate students must attack and attempt to infiltrate other students' computer systems.
The students are utilizing McAfee hardware and software in GCCIS' new security and forensics laboratory. This state-of-the-art facility is where teams of students, comprised of first-year through fifth-year students, will compete in the contest "Build and Defend Your Digital Fortress." The teams must design, test, build, defend and perform a forensic analysis on computer network systems.
In the first phase of the competition, students will be given a list of customer requirements. They will implement McAfee IPS appliances and software and once their designs are complete, McAfee will run tests on the students' network and systems to determine deficiencies, vulnerabilities, patch levels and general health. The second portion of the contest will involve the students preparing their networks against a set of simulated attacks from the company's engineers. The attacks will consist of internal and external threats. In the final phase of the competition, the students will perform a forensic analysis to assess damage to their systems and to determine the winning team.
"We are thrilled to have McAfee spend the day with our students," says Jorge Diaz-Herrera, dean of GCCIS. "This new partnership is a win-win situation for everyone. It's a great opportunity for our students to interact one-on-one with an industry leader. And McAfee will have the chance to recruit some of RIT's top computing students entering the workforce."
"McAfee is committed to not only providing best of breed solutions, but supporting the training and development of future security professionals," said Kevin Weiss, executive vice president of worldwide sales and services at McAfee, Inc. "We are excited about the work we are doing with RIT. This event and contest will provide the students with experience they will apply in real-world environments."
