Attorney General Dana Nessel has announced a partnership with Ferris Center for Cybersecurity and Data Science.
Ferris CCDS has agreed to partner with Attorney General Nessel to investigate online threats, domestic terror and misinformation. According to a press release from the Department of Attorney General, the Attorney General regularly deals with investigations that involve cybersecurity and information technology issues.
“This partnership is designed to assist our elected leaders and officials from politicized lawsuits, threatening behavior on social media, consult on better ways to protect data, analyze data and conduct digital forensic consultations as needed,” Information security and intelligence professor Jason Otting said.
Ferris State is set apart from different universities in how they are the only accredited cybersecurity school in Michigan.
“The accreditation from agencies such as NSA, Department of Defense, ABET [and] CAE set Ferris apart from all other schools,” Otting said. “Additionally, our forensic partnerships with Mobile and computer forensic software giants such as Magnet, Cellebrite, FEX [and] XRY set us apart from other universities that claim a digital forensic program.”
The ISI program faculty at Ferris is very involved in their field of study as well as having vast experience before becoming educators. The faculty, according to the Attorney Generals press release, consists of one member who works within the Michigan State Police Cyber Crime Unit, as well as two who are licensed professional investigators in the field of digital forensics. There is also a faculty member who has a role in the Michigan MIC3, which is the State of Michigan’s Civilian Cyber Corp Organization.
“This is an open-ended partnership that we hope to continue for a long time past the current administration, because, as we know, digital crimes and the need for cybersecurity is not going anywhere,” Otting said.
The ISI program at Ferris is led by Dr. Greg Gogolin, who was the initial source of both undergraduate and graduate degrees in ISI. According to Ferris’ faculty page, the program is ranked in the top 25 nationally.
Gogolin is a Distinguished Professor and Fulbright Scholar (Universidad de Chile) and has taught in Europe, Asia and Latin America. He also has a legion of publications and has presented at several conferences and locations within the United States and internationally.
Ferris has recently been approved funding by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to build the Center for Virtual Learning in 2020. The building will consist of secured evidence rooms, examination rooms, presentation rooms and faraday rooms. This will be the only faraday room in the State of Michigan according to the Attorney Generals press release.