TekStream To Bring Public-Private Workforce Development Program to Educause Cybersecurity and Privacy Professionals Conference
TekStream, in partnership with Louisiana State University, Splunk, and AWS, provides cybersecurity through automation, shared threat intelligence, consistent architecture, and student training that offers a higher degree of skills than current academia provides. Initially launched as a pilot, the student-powered SOC represents a first-of-its-kind approach to affordable MDS and high-quality, hands-on student cybersecurity training. The program has been implemented at other higher education institutions nationwide, including the New Jersey Institute of Technology, since its initial success.
The breakout session, taking place during the second full day of the event, will be presented by Bruce Johnson, Senior Director, Enterprise Security at TekStream; Sharon Kelley, Executive Director for Information Security & CISO at New Jersey Institute of Technology; Craig Woolley, Chief Information Officer at Louisiana State University; and Ed Wozencroft, Vice President for Digital Strategy & CIO at New Jersey Institute of Technology. The panel will discuss how the student-powered SOC alleviates the expense of a standalone cybersecurity approach, how they use AI for level 1 detections and how student training overcomes the barrier AI has created for entry-level job seekers. Session attendees will:
Learn how the collaborative SOC protects entities on an institutional, statewide and national level.
Hear how LSU and NJIT's training includes escalation, response, remediation and threat intelligence skills that aren't teachable from textbooks.
Discover how LSU and NJIT are creating economies of scale, removing barriers to best-in-class cybersecurity with partners.
Demand for well-trained, qualified employees is at an all-time high, with an industry average vacancy rate of 28%. Meanwhile, new graduates looking to enter the cybersecurity industry are struggling to overcome the hurdle of AI augmenting level 1 analysis, replacing most entry-level cybersecurity positions. TekStream's public-private workforce development program goes beyond current higher-ed classroom education to provide real-time, hands-on training, combining real-world cybersecurity incident response and engineering experience with a formal, tiered curriculum, oversight and customized guidance.
'The industry is at a crossroads right now, needing new, qualified talent to enter a workforce with few entry-level positions for them,' says Bruce Johnson. 'What we are doing with LSU and NJIT is opening the door for a new, accessible talent pipeline that is replicable, easy to stand up and affordable to manage.'
Within the program, students are taught how to differentiate severity, identify risk, assess blast radius, implement effective remediation, communicate appropriately and work as a team, with professional oversight from TekStream. In turn, TekStream covers odd hours (the time outside of traditional business working hours), ensuring that LSU and NJIT have the 24/7 coverage needed without burdening students.
Unlike other student-powered SOCs, TekStream pulls candidates from all majors and backgrounds. Students within the program learn at their own pace, progressing as quickly or slowly as they like. This approach expands post-graduation opportunities for the students, allowing them to establish a thorough resume and portfolio and giving them the skills needed to enter mid-level roles right after graduation. Ten students will have successfully completed the program with this year's spring graduating class.
In addition to its application for improving higher-education learning for students, TekStream's workforce development program offers a fast-paced, easy-to-manage framework for entities looking to upskill existing employees. In early use cases, some organizations have been able to upskill their existing IT and cybersecurity talent in as little as six weeks.
Visit https://events.educause.edu/cybersecurity-and-privacy-professionals-conference/2025 to learn more about the event, or stop by the session on May 20 at 4 p.m.
About TekStream
TekStream, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, helps clients accelerate digital transformation by navigating complex technology environments with a combination of technical expertise and staffing solutions. TekStream provides battle-tested processes and methodologies to help companies with legacy systems get to the cloud faster so they can become more agile, reduce costs and improve operational efficiencies. With hundreds of successful deployments, TekStream guarantees on-time and on-budget project delivery and is proud to have 98% customer retention.
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