FBI director, U.S. senator and others partnering with KU on cybersecurity
LAWRENCE —The second annual FBI & KU Cybersecurity Conference drew nearly 400 people to hear from an array of researchers, industry professionals and government officials, including U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran and FBI director Christopher Wray. Presenters stressed the importance of partnerships between industry, academia and government to address cybersecurity.
One avenue for such partnerships will be at the KU Innovation Park’s Phase IV facility, the Kansas National Security Innovation Center (KNSIC). At the conference, Sen. Moran announced $22 million in funding he helped secure to build the facility. The KNSIC will foster collaboration between KU, regional firms and government in the cybersecurity and defense industry cluster at the Park.
“Equipping the Park with a high-security dry lab will enable KU to obtain more federal and private contracts to work on innovative solutions to some of our nation’s complex challenges,” Moran said. “I look forward to seeing how the new lab will contribute to our national success and provide Kansas students with a one-of-a-kind learning opportunity.”
Attendees heard from several speakers who demonstrate how KU Innovation Park can bring research insights from the university to the market. Perry Alexander, AT&T Foundation Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, was joined on a panel by Jason Rogers, CEO of Invary. Invary is a company founded by Alexander that uses techniques developed at KU in partnership with the National Security Agency’s Laboratory for Advanced Cybersecurity Research. KU Innovation Park helped launch Invary as a startup and continues to support the company’s operations.
“Innovation Park was an essential partner in starting Invary,” Alexander said. “When my sponsors told me of the tech transfer opportunity that led to Invary, I was aware of Innovation Park and confident they could help. They set up the company, provided business support, and helped with licensing as we got going. They also helped recruit our CEO and provided space and computing resources to start development. Put simply, Invary would not exist without KU Innovation Park.”
Other speakers included security professionals from healthcare, education, electrical utilities and a host of other critical infrastructure companies. FBI special agents also discussed lessons from the field in breakout sessions. Regardless of the types of threats mentioned — from ransomware, to spyware, to newer techniques like “living off the land” — partnerships between universities, businesses and law enforcement are key to addressing them.
“The strong relationship we’ve built between KU and our FBI field office in Kansas City — and this conference, which brings together so many leading experts in cybersecurity — demonstrate the kinds of great things we can accomplish when the Bureau and academia work together,” Wray said.
The conference highlights KU’s strength in research focused on security and safety, as well as human experience in the digital age — two of KU’s five strategic research themes. Within security and safety, KU researchers are developing new approaches to combat emerging threats and vulnerabilities to health, well-being and security for individuals and society posed by technological advances. Human experience in the digital age describes how KU researchers are exploring what is gained and lost in the human experience as we find ourselves inundated with new technologies.