During the last few years, we have witnessed a large amount of hacks and data breaches at major retail, banking and healthcare centers across the nation. Credit card numbers, home addresses, and social security numbers all were at risk when access to these networks was gained by by hackers. With new technologies always being discovered, the best defense is a good offense of course.
The University at Albany School of Business has been selected to host a research laboratory designed to improve exploration into cyber security and incident response. The ARC Group of New York (ARC), a leader in computer forensics, has donated software and services valued at more than a half million dollars to support this critical endeavor.
Sanjay Goel, associate professor in the School Business and director of the UAlbany-based NYS Cyber Security Center, will head the new laboratory. The primary goal of the new lab will be to develop digital forensic tools that would help to protect information after data breaches. Goel noted that data breach incident response has fallen behind cyber security developments and the ability to predict future attacks. “Digital forensics provides visibility inside the network, allowing organizations to monitor network intrusions. This is one of the fasted growing areas in the field of consulting.”
The research lab will work with the new, four-year undergraduate program in digital forensics at the School of Business — the first of its kind in New York and one of only a handful in the nation. The program provides students with the high-level training needed to meet the forensics and security demands in IT for organizations throughout the economy, including health care, government, financial services, and private industry.
